Foreign Minister to attend global leaders talks

By Kim Hyo-jin

Yun Byung-se

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will visit Europe next week to attend a series of world leaders’ gatherings.

The minister plans to attend the Davos forum, an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, a foreign ministry official said. The 45th global forum will kick off on Jan. 21, and continue until Jan. 24.

World leaders expected to attend include French President Francois Hollande, German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

Discussions at the four-day meeting will likely touch on the terrorist attacks at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The minister will join the session titled the “2015 geopolitical outlook” along with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

A foreign ministry official said that Yun is seeking to include a bilateral meeting with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius while in Europe.

They are expected to exchange views on a global response to Islamic-fueled terrorism and climate change.

Yun is also expected to attend the 51st Munich Security Conference (MSC) to be held from Feb. 6 to 8 in Germany. It will be the first time for a Korean Foreign Minister to attend the conference.

"Yun decided to participate considering that the security talks issues have expanded to those about the pacific region" said the official. Yun will attend a session titled “geopolitical situation of the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Twenty heads of state and more than 60 foreign and defense ministers will gather together. Participants include U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The key topics of the conference will be the crisis in Ukraine and its implication for the European security architecture, as well as the exacerbating situation in the Middle East.

Also, the fight against terrorism following the deadly terrorist attack at French magazine Charlie Hebdo will be discussed at this year's conference.