By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

South Korea and the United States have agreed to make joint efforts to make next year's G20 summit in Seoul a success, President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday after talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at Cheong Wa Dae.

The two leaders also agreed on coordinated measures to address climate change and other global issues.

"We reviewed the results of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh and agreed on close cooperation to achieve strong and sustainable growth," Lee said. "We also agreed to make a joint effort for a successful G20 summit in Seoul in November next year."

Saying that South Korea will play a critical role for the big event, Obama expressed his hope of sharing visions for "rescuing the global economy, staying in balance for sustainable growth."

The U.S. President, who visited South Korea for the first time since his inauguration early this year, noted that the ally has made "extraordinary progress" in its economy and democracy.

"Indeed in just one generation, the ROK has gone from a recipient to a donor nation under the leadership of President Lee, a leader of the G20. The U.S. has been proud to stand as a friend and an ally of the Korean people throughout this period," Obama said.

The two countries also discussed global issues such as climate change, green growth and terrorism, Lee said.

"We agreed that it is necessary to take joint steps to resolve these global issues."

He continued: "Particularly, I set a high value on President Obama's efforts to make a world without nuclear weapons and will participate in a summit on nuclear and security issues to be held in the United States next April."

President Obama said he and Lee agreed to deal with "clean energy and climate change" together.

"I told President Lee that Korea's recent announcement of an ambitious target for 2020 is a model for emerging economies and building on the progress that we made at APEC and in Beijing, we will continue to work together to have a successful outcome in Copenhagen, next month," Obama said.

Early this month, Seoul vowed to cut the country's combined carbon emissions by 4 percent by 2020 from 2005 by promoting the use of bio and nuclear energy and energy-efficient technologies.

The U.N. Climate Change Conference is scheduled to take place in Denmark between Dec. 7 and 18 with representatives from 192 countries attending.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr