ID :
53025
Tue, 03/31/2009 - 08:12
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/53025
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean president heads to London for G-20 summit
SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak embarked on a five-day trip to London on Tuesday to attend a financial summit there aimed at discussing ways to tackle the global financial and economic crisis.
Lee will also hold bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders, including
U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso. The summit
brings together leaders from 20 major industrialized and emerging economies,
known as the G-20.
He was also scheduled for a bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown later Tuesday.
"President Lee plans to stress the need to coordinate the countries'
macroeconomic policies and lower their trade barriers to overcome the financial
crisis and revive the world economy," an official from the presidential office
said.
Lee was expected to call for a "roll-back" on trade protectionism as his
export-dependent country is struggling to overcome the financial meltdown that
has cut deeply into its trade volume.
"There are many countries clearly engaging in some sort of protectionist
measures," Lee said in an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times
published Monday.
The president has also said he will propose increasing monitoring capabilities of
the World Trade Organization to produce regular reports on countries engaged in
protectionist measures.
Lee will also engage a number of world leaders bilaterally to promote his agenda
of enhancing free trade, according to South Korean officials accompanying the
president.
Lee and Obama will hold a one-on-one meeting Thursday to discuss a range of
issues that will include North Korea's nuclear and missile activities, as well as
strengthening the countries' military alliance.
Other topics for the Lee-Obama meeting, the first summit between the two leaders,
include the ratification of a free trade deal signed two years ago and other
international issues such as global warming, the officials said. Seoul and
Washington signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2006, but the deal remains
stalled as it awaits ratification by both countries' legislatures.
South Korea is also expected to announce the signing of an FTA with the European
Union on the sidelines of the G-20 summit this week, a move that Britain's top
diplomat to Seoul Martin Uden said will be an "important symbol of
anti-protectionism."
Lee is scheduled to meet separately with the Japanese prime minister and Chinese
President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the London summit, with the talks likely
to focus on North Korea as the communist state is preparing to launch what it
claims to be a communications satellite early next month.
He is set for a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon following the
conclusion of the G-20 summit Thursday.
The G-20 groups Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
Lee will also hold bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders, including
U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso. The summit
brings together leaders from 20 major industrialized and emerging economies,
known as the G-20.
He was also scheduled for a bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown later Tuesday.
"President Lee plans to stress the need to coordinate the countries'
macroeconomic policies and lower their trade barriers to overcome the financial
crisis and revive the world economy," an official from the presidential office
said.
Lee was expected to call for a "roll-back" on trade protectionism as his
export-dependent country is struggling to overcome the financial meltdown that
has cut deeply into its trade volume.
"There are many countries clearly engaging in some sort of protectionist
measures," Lee said in an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times
published Monday.
The president has also said he will propose increasing monitoring capabilities of
the World Trade Organization to produce regular reports on countries engaged in
protectionist measures.
Lee will also engage a number of world leaders bilaterally to promote his agenda
of enhancing free trade, according to South Korean officials accompanying the
president.
Lee and Obama will hold a one-on-one meeting Thursday to discuss a range of
issues that will include North Korea's nuclear and missile activities, as well as
strengthening the countries' military alliance.
Other topics for the Lee-Obama meeting, the first summit between the two leaders,
include the ratification of a free trade deal signed two years ago and other
international issues such as global warming, the officials said. Seoul and
Washington signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2006, but the deal remains
stalled as it awaits ratification by both countries' legislatures.
South Korea is also expected to announce the signing of an FTA with the European
Union on the sidelines of the G-20 summit this week, a move that Britain's top
diplomat to Seoul Martin Uden said will be an "important symbol of
anti-protectionism."
Lee is scheduled to meet separately with the Japanese prime minister and Chinese
President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the London summit, with the talks likely
to focus on North Korea as the communist state is preparing to launch what it
claims to be a communications satellite early next month.
He is set for a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon following the
conclusion of the G-20 summit Thursday.
The G-20 groups Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
