President Moon Jae-in will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during his first visit to Russia from Sept. 6 to 7, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said Tuesday.
At the Eastern Economic Forum, which will be held in the easternmost city of Vladivostok, the President will deliver a keynote address. The annual forum will mainly deal with business opportunities in Russia's resource-rich Far East area and possible cooperation among the Asia-Pacific countries.
This will be Moon's second meeting with Putin following the one held on the sidelines of G20 in Germany last month.
Moon has floated the "New Korean Peninsula Economic Map" that features connecting the Korean Peninsula's east coast with Russia, which will involve trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Pyongyang and Moscow.
The administration has eyed the peninsula as a hub of the Northeast Asian economic community. President Moon has reaffirmed the goal when he unveiled the government's five-year policy roadmap last month.
To lay the foundation for the initiative, the government has launched the so-called "Northward Economic Cooperation Committee" under the presidential office. Rep. Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea will head the committee to orchestrate comprehensive economic cooperation projects with Russia and China.
In May right after taking office, Moon appointed Song as a special envoy to Russia. At a seminar in July, the four-term lawmaker called for the resumption of the three-way logistics project known as the Rajin-Khassan project.
Following his visit to Russia, Moon is to head to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, in mid-September. There, he will deliver another keynote speech at its General Assembly.
The President will have a series of diplomatic talks in Southeast Asian countries in November, the spokesman added.
From Nov. 10 to 11, Moon will head for Vietnam to attend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summits. Later, from Nov. 13 to 14, he is scheduled to visit the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three ― South Korea, China and Japan ― as well as the East Asia Summit (EAS).
Moon has sought to open multilateral channels beyond traditional diplomatic partners. In May, he appointed Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as a special envoy to ASEAN, delivering a letter to the President of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang.