Lee due in Thailand next month for ASEAN Plus Three summit by Byun Duk-kun

SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will embark on a trip next month to Thailand where he will be joined by his counterparts from 10 Southeast Asian nations, Japan and China for discussions on ways to increase economic and security cooperation in the region, as well as joint efforts to fight the global economic slowdown, the presidential office said Thursday.

The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the
three Northeast Asian nations, or ASEAN Plus Three, will be held in Pattaya April
11-12.
The meeting comes as Seoul seeks to significantly improve its relations with its
Asian neighbors under what it calls a "New Asia Initiative" that outlines its
ambitious plan to become a prominent force in the region.
"President Lee's participation in the ASEAN Plus Three meeting will mark the
country's first step toward implementing the New Asia Initiative," Lee Dong-kwan,
a spokesman for the presidential office, said.
Seoul plans to host a special summit with all heads of the 10 ASEAN members
nations in the southern resort island of Jeju in June.
The Pattaya meeting will also provide the South Korean president with a chance to
"solidify" his position as a leader who represents the region in the
international community as it will come shortly after Lee's attendance at the
G-20 summit that will bring together the heads of the world's 20 largest
economies, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.
"As a co-chair of the G-20 summit, the president will explain the outcome of the
summit and play a leading role in setting up regional cooperation by proposing
ways to deal with the global financial crisis," it said in a released statement.
Lee is expected to call for the swift establishment of a US$120-billion joint
fund under a proposed program known as the Chiang Mai Initiative to deal with
short-term liquidity problems in the region, it said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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