E. Asian Trilateral Summit Planned Next Month
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak will hold a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka next month to discuss North Korea's nuclear threat and global financial market instability.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper, reported Saturday the leaders will gather on Dec. 14 for the tripartite summit, which had been delayed due to former Japanese Premier Yasuo Fukuda's sudden resignation on Sept. 1.
On the agenda will be the six-party talks on disabling North Korea's nuclear program and international cooperation in stabilizing financial markets, the newspaper said.
A Cheong Wa Dae official confirmed President Lee will meet with the leaders of China and Japan but said the date and place for the meeting has not yet been fixed.
``The three countries have agreed in principle to hold the summit, but it is still being discussed where and when it should take place,'' the official said, asking not to be named.
South Korean officials said the summit will deal with the creation of an $80-billion Asian bailout fund and other measures to jointly cope with the global financial turmoil.
At the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing last month, the leaders of ASEAN+3 ― 10 Southeast Asian countries and Korea, China and Japan ― agreed to launch an Asian version of the International Monetary Fund by next July.
They also agreed to create a body that will monitor regional financial markets and seek greater input in global financial organizations.
``Lee, Aso and Jiabao will discuss ways to increase roles of Asian countries on the global stage. The creation of the Asian bailout fund will be one of the key topics,'' the official said.
In order to fine-tune the summit, Deputy Strategy and Finance Minister Shin Je-yoon will meet with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts during the upcoming Group of 20 meeting in Washington on Nov. 15.
Shin will ask China and Japan to help expedite the setup of the Asian fund and other measures to stabilize regional financial markets, the ministry said.
``Korea, Japan and China are all eager to set up the bailout fund, but details still need to be worked out,'' Shin said, stressing Korea hopes the fund will begin operation next year.