Park arrives in Italy for ASEM summit

South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Italy on Tuesday for a biennial summit of dozens of Asian and European leaders and a separate summit with the Italian prime minister.

The two-day Asia-Europe Meeting, known as ASEM, is set to begin in Milan on Oct. 16, bringing together heads of state from more than 50 countries on the two continents.

Major participants include Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.

Park is set to hold a bilateral meeting with Li this week on the sidelines of the ASEM summit, according to a diplomatic source in Beijing.

Park plans to address South Korean and Italian business leaders and meet with South Korean residents in Italy on Wednesday before attending the ASEM summit.

During the summit, Park plans to seek support from the leaders for her Eurasia initiative to bind Eurasian nations closely together by linking roads and railways that run from South Korea to Europe via North Korea, Russia and China, according to her office.

South Korea hopes to eventually link its rail network to Russia's Trans-Siberian railway via North Korea, an ambitious project that will cut shipping time and logistics costs for South Korea's Europe-bound exports.

Discussions on the project to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway with the potential Trans-Korean Railway have been underway for more than a decade, although no major progress has been made due to geopolitical obstacles, particularly North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

Park's trip will also take her to Rome on Friday for talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to discuss ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries, according to Park's office.

Park also plans to discuss a wide-range of issues with Italian leaders, including the threat posed by Islamic State militants in the Middle East and the deadly Ebola virus in Africa as well as the political situation in Northeast Asia.

Also Friday, Park plans to pay a courtesy call on Pope Francis before returning home, according to her office. The planned meeting comes two months after Francis visited South Korea on the first papal trip to the Asian country in 25 years. (Yonhap)