It is too early for world leaders to discuss on an exit strategy, ending stimulus packages, as worries on a double-dip recession linger, Nobel-prize winner Paul Krugman told South Koreans Wednesday.
  
"(It's) alarming the large rising tide of people saying we've done enough, (that it's) time to pursue an exit strategy," Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, said during a speech at the 2009 World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Xinhua reported.
  
According to the economist, any exit strategy, including a hike in the Federal Reserve's policy interest rate, should be considered under the condition that the U.S. unemployment rate stands below 7 percent.
  
The decrease in the jobless rate may take at least two years, Krugman added.
  
"The current recovery is not sustainable as it is the result of an 'inventory rebound' rather than of resilient global demand," Krugman pointed out, saying the global downturn followed a fall in consumption in the wake of the bursting of asset bubbles.
  
With respect to the South Korean economy, he also warned that recent signs of rebound should not be taken as a sign of a sustainable recovery, urging not to withdraw its stimulus measures.
  
"The bounceback should not be taken as an indication of continuing growth in manufacturing exports," Krugman said.
  
"It's too early to say (South) Korea has (achieved) a rapid recovery because the world demand which drives a Korean recovery will not be sustained," he added.