ROK Gearing Up for G-20 Meeting

President Lee engages in brisk summit diplomacy

The Presidential Office of Cheong Wa Dae has been gearing up its efforts to successfully host the G-20 Meeting, taking it as an unprecedented chance to polish the nation’s image in the international community as a power in terms of economics and global politics.
For President Lee Myung-bak, the event will be a highlight of his tenure, as he is scheduled to preside over various summit talks in the presence of global leaders.
The Presidential Committee for the G-20 Summit, which is chaired by Dr. Sakong Il, has announced that the G-20 Seoul Summit will be held this coming Nov. 11-12. Before the date was announced, the committee explained its decision to the G-20 member nations through diplomatic channels.
Dr. Sakong said, “The G-20 Summit Committee will endeavor to make the summit a success by pooling support from all government ministries and agencies.” He continued, “We all need to channel our efforts to elevate Korea’s prestige and upgrade our society on the occasion of the G-20 Summit.”
G-20-related events will be held throughout the year leading up to the Seoul Summit in November. The first such meeting will be the Meeting of Finance Ministry and Central Bank Deputies to be held in Songdo, Incheon, Feb. 27-28.
German President Horst Koehler visited with President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 8 to discuss ways of promoting the cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.
President Lee also visited the Swiss city of Davos to hold a series of summit meetings on the sidelines of the 40th World Economic Forum on Jan. 28.
During the Korea-Canada summit, President Lee and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper positively evaluated the continuously developing ties between the two countries following the latest three rounds of meetings between the leaders themselves. In particular, they pledged to do their utmost in preparing for the G-20 summits this year, which will take place in Toronto in June and in Seoul in November.
During his meeting with President Doris Leuthard of the Swiss Confederation, the president agreed to work together for a successful G-20 summit this year and to strengthen efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. The president thanked Leuthard for Switzerland’s continuous sending of representatives to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission at Korea’s truce village of Panmunjom since the armistice agreement called a halt to the Korean War in 1953.
At the Korea-Spain summit meeting, the president and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez noted the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between their countries in 2010 and pledged to elevate their bilateral ties to mark that occasion. They also promised to work together for an early ratification of the Korea-EU FTA and successful G-20 summits this year.
The president and Jordan’s King Abdullah also talked head to head in a meeting. The president thanked the Jordanian King for selecting, as the result of a bidding process, a Korean consortium to build a nuclear reactor, and discussed the Jordanian government’s grand waterway project. King Abdullah highly appreciated Korean expertise in construction and promised to strengthen his country’s ties with Korea.
Later in the day, the president also took part in a Korea Night, to which about 500 guests were invited. The event introduced traditional Korean culture, including Korean food and music. The night was organized by the Federation of Korean Industries.
The president and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held bilateral talks in New Delhi and agreed to boost their bilateral ties to a “strategic partnership” from the previous “long-term cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity.” The previous one was concluded in 2004.
The leaders also agreed to open a vice ministerial-level dialogue between the two sides on foreign affairs and security issues within this year, and pledged to reinforce their defense collaboration.
The two countries’ economic cooperation will be bolstered through their bilateral trade, which is expected to reach US$30 billion by 2014, according to the leaders’ agreement. The heightened trade volume is nearly triple that of 2009 ($11.4 billion).
The strengthening of bilateral trade will be largely based upon the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Korea and India, which took effect on Jan 1.
The president and Singh also promised to begin a discussion on nuclear energy development, which is expected to raise hopes for Korean companies to advance into India’s nuclear power plant construction market, after the Korea-UAE nuclear plant deal last December.
Meanwhile, the president expressed hope in the summit with Prime Minister Singh that Korea’s KT-1 trainer jets could replace India’s old military planes. India has allocated a total of $50 million to buy 60 trainer jets by 2011.
After the summit, the two leaders took part in four MOU signing ceremonies on the transfer of prisoners, cooperation in the IT sector, scientific and technological collaboration, and the peaceful use of outer space, which were signed by the relevant ministries from both sides.
Earlier in the day, the president met high-ranking officials of India including Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, foreign minister S. M. Krishna, ruling Indian Congress Party Leader Sonia Gandhi and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj, and shared his thoughts on bilateral relationships between Korea and India. nw

President Lee Myung-bak and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hold an extended summit in New Delhi on Feb. 8.

w(clockwise) President Lee meets with German President Horst Koehler, who was on a state visit to Korea on Feb. 8,; President Lee holds a summit with President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 11,; Lee gives a special speech on the upcoming G-20 Summit, to be held in Seoul in the second half of this year, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Feb. 29

Photo by courtesy of the MCST