SK President to Attend G20 Summit in China
Amidst the worsening political relationship between South Korea and China, President Park Geun Hye is set to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit in China and the forums with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) early September. The confirmation was made by Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House) on Thursday.
Based on an article from the Korea Herald, on September 4, Park will go to Hangzhou for the G20 Summit which will last for two days. The main theme for the summit is "Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected, and Inclusive World Economy."
In a press release from the Cheong Wa Dae, Park, together with other world leaders, will discuss "inclusive and innovative" methods to drive economic growth and joint efforts to deal with the volatility in the financial market worldwide and help global trade.
Park's trip to China was confirmed despite the rising tensions over the impending advanced U.S. anti-missile system deployment to South Korea. It is still unknown whether Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will talk about the THAAD deployment aside from the agenda of the multilateral summit.
After the G20 Summit, Park will then travel to Vientiane, the capital and largest city in Laos, on September 7 for summit meetings associated to the 10-member ASEAN - which the Korea Herald writes as "South Korea's strategically crucial partner whose regional influence has been increasing since it launched the ASEAN Community late last year."
ASEAN member countries provide great strategic support because they stretch across the Indian and Pacific Oceans in which the world's most pertinent trading and energy supply routes go through. This includes the Strait of Malacca, a narrow, 850 kilometers stretch of water found between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra (Indonesia).
The statement from her office also said that Park will seek ways and strategies to further strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership with the other member countries during the ASEAN summit. The ASEAN is the second largest trading partner of South Korea, with the two-way trade attaining $120 billion last year.
From September 8-9, the President will visit Laos on the invitation of Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith. The visit will be the first time a South Korean president has officially visited the country since 1995 when the two countries resumed diplomatic ties.