S. Korean presidential aide to visit U.S. for talks on G-20

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- A senior economic aide to the South Korean president
will travel to the United States this week for talks on the upcoming G-20 summit,
officials here said Sunday, following Seoul's call to keep the forum alive.
Sakong Il, a special advisor to President Lee Myung-bak, will make a three-day
trip to Washington from Tuesday for a meeting with Lawrence Summers, director of
the National Economic Council, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa
Dae. He will also meet with Michael Froman, deputy assistant to U.S. President
Barack Obama and deputy national security adviser for international economic
affairs, among other officials.
The third G-20 summit is scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh later in the month.
South Korea assumes joint chairmanship of the forum, established in the face of
the global economic crisis last year, but a more exclusive group of advanced
nations, known as the G-8, has recently claimed the 20-nation meeting has already
outlived its usefulness.
Lee, along with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, called for continued
leadership of the 20 economies last week, saying the world has yet to completely
escape the recession.
"This is no time to be complacent. The world faces several new challenges that
will require leadership from the G-20," they said in a joint article published
Thursday by the Financial Times.
Sakong, also head of the Korea International Trade Association, will return home
Thursday after also meeting with John Lipsky, the first deputy managing director
of the International Monetary Fund, and journalists in the U.S. capital to
explain the leadership and achievements of the G-20, Cheong Wa Dae said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)