Lee, Sarkozy to hold summit before concluding ASEM summit

BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was to hold bilateral summit talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Beijing later on Saturday to exchange views on how to overcome the world financial turmoil and accelerate a free trade deal between Korea and the European Union.

Both Lee and Sarkozy are now in Beijing to attend the seventh biennial summit of
the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, is
reportedly pushing to use the ASEM event to press Asian nations for support in a
dramatic restructuring of the global financial system.
Lee proposed overhauling the roles and functions of the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank during his keynote speech at the opening session of the
ASEM summit on Friday. He also asserted that the increased stature of emerging
Asian economies should be reflected in the restructuring of the international
financial organizations.
Leaders of 43 ASEM member nations and heads of the European Commission and the
ASEAN Secretariat were to conclude their two days of summit talks Saturday
afternoon with a joint declaration calling for greater worldwide cooperation and
policy coordination in overcoming the financial crisis.
ASEM nations account for roughly 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
Lee was to return home Saturday evening.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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