Seoul to set up committee for G-20 summit

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will set up a new government committee to
help arrange upcoming Group of 20 financial summit meetings, a presidential
official said Friday.

The G-20 group consists of 19 of the world's 25 largest economies and the
European Union, which collectively account for over 90 percent of global gross
national product and 80 percent of world trade.
South Korea co-chairs the international forum this year along with Britain and
Brazil under a so-called troika system that includes the past and future chairs
of the 20-member body.
"Our country is set to take on a significant role within the G-20 forum, along
with the other nations of the troika," an official at the presidential office
Cheong Wa Dae said.
The new panel, dubbed the G-20 Coordination Committee, will be tasked with
working with the two other chairs of the forum to set agendas for future
meetings, the official noted.
The forum is originally a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors
of the 20 member economies, but a summit of the heads of governments and
economies is scheduled to be held in London in April, following their first
meeting in November last year.
The South Korean committee is expected to be headed by Sakong Il, the special
economic advisor to President Lee Myung-bak, according to the Cheong Wa Dae
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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