Bush, Gore to visit S. Korea this month

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- Former U.S. president and vice president, George W.
Bush and Al Gore, will visit South Korea later this month to attend separate
international forums, organizers of the events said Thursday.
Bush is scheduled to deliver a speech on Seoul-Washington relations and Asia at
the World Knowledge Forum, an annual conference of businesspeople and opinion
leaders in various fields, taking place in Seoul from Oct. 13-15, according to
the local Maeil Business Newspaper.
It would be his second trip to South Korea since his retirement early this year.
In August, he traveled to the southern resort island of Jeju to join a forum by
the Federation of Korean Industries. Bush was greeted by South Korean President
Lee Myung-bak there.
South Korean officials said it is unclear whether Lee will meet Bush again. "No
schedule has been set yet. It is up to the presidential office," a foreign
ministry official said.
Bush's former political rival, Al Gore, is also scheduled to visit South Korea to
participate in a global forum on the environment to be held in Suwon, a city just
south of Seoul, from Oct. 21-23.
Gore, who served as vice president from 1993-2001 during the Clinton
administration, has been involved in a number of environmental activities since
he was narrowly defeated by Bush in the 2000 presidential election.
He stepped back into the news in mid-March when two reporters at his Internet
broadcaster, Current TV, were detained in North Korea while filming a documentary
on defectors from the impoverished state.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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