Korea Focuses on Successful G20 Summit

MOSF Minister Yoon embarks on a 12-day journey to major G20 countries

With the G20 Seoul Summit less than two months away, Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance has held a series of meetings with G20 finance ministers and heads of international organizations as part of preparations for the upcoming summit.
In the latest move, MOSF Minister Yoon has embarked on a 12-day trip to visit major G20 nations including Russia, Germany, France, Brazil and the United States to fine-tune topics for the G20 Seoul Summit slated for Nov. 11-12 in Seoul.
Minister Yoon will also lead a Korean delegation to the 2010 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group, to be held in Washington, D.C., from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10.
MOSF officials said Yoon went to Russia on Sept. 18 for the first leg of the latest overseas trip ¡ª 40,000 km in flight distance in 50 hours, equivalent to orbiting once around the globe ¡ª and will return home on Sept. 29. During the series of meetings, he will discuss major topics of the G20 Seoul Summit, including the creation of a global financial safety net and reform of the IMF, they said.

While staying in Russia, Yoon will participate in the 10th Korea-Russia Joint Economic Committee Meeting and discuss ways of further promoting bilateral economic cooperation on Sept. 20.
Minister Yoon will hold meetings with Axel Weber, the president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the ECB, and Wolfgang SchŠuble, the German Federal Minister of Finance from Sept. 21-22 and ask for their support for IMF reform.
While touring France, the chair/host of the 2011 G20 Summit, Minister Yoon will meet with Christine Lagarde, the French Finance Minister, and Christian Noyer, the President of the French Central Bank, and discuss ways of promoting cooperation between the current and next chairs of the G20 Summit and issues related to the creation of a global financial safety net.
During his trip to Brazil on Sept. 24, the MOSF minister will hold meetings with Henrique Meirelles, the President of the Brazilian Central Bank, and Guido Mantega, the Brazilian Finance Minister.
Yoon will visit the United States, the last leg of his trip, on Sept. 27 and he will hold a meeting with Timothy Geithner, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in order to solicit their support for the G20 Seoul Summit. He will also meet with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the President of the IMF, to iron out differences on IMF reform and other topics of the G20 Seoul Summit.
In addition, Minister Yoon will continue his efforts to make the G20 Seoul Summit a success during the upcoming 2010 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group.
He will continue his job of coordinating for the G20 Seoul Summit during a working breakfast meeting between G20 finance ministers and the IMFC (International Monetary and Financial Committee) slated for Oct. 8.
Korea, which will be the first developing country to host and chair the G20 Seoul Summit, is seeking to adopt the ¡°Seoul Initiative,¡± calling for, among others, creating a global financial safety net and development agenda.
Summits held to date in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and London helped avert economic catastrophe. In Pittsburgh, the G20 leaders agreed that, going forward, the G20 would be the premier forum for international economic cooperation, ushering in a new system of global economic governance. In Seoul this November, the leaders will take that mandate forward, paving the way for future sustainable and balanced growth.
Within the larger agenda, the leaders will continue to work to build a lasting system of cooperation ¡ª a framework ¡ª and to reform international financial organizations and financial regulations. At the Seoul Summit, the G20 will build on past agreements, while introducing new agenda items that support the same fundamental goals. Specifically, Korea will support discussion of a system of global financial safety nets and plans to reduce global poverty and the development gap. nw

(photos from left) Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner prior to their talks in Washington on April 21. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors participating in a meeting held in Busan in June.