Lee calls for new agency to support middle-ranking firms

President Lee Myung-bak instructed the government Wednesday to study creating an agency exclusively taking care of intermediate-sized firms that are stripped of state benefits they used to enjoy as smaller companies.    Lee made the remarks during a meeting with 81 heads of intermediate-sized enterprises -- companies larger than small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) but smaller than conglomerates or chaebol.    As of the end of 2010, 1,291 companies were tallied in the category.    Intermediate firms represent only 0.04 percent of the total number of companies in South Korea but hire 802,000 people or 8 percent of the total workforce, and account for 12.7 percent of the country's total exports, according to government data.    Wednesday's meeting was set up to boost the morale of such companies, check for progress in government efforts to help their growth and to discuss future policy directions, the presidential office said.