Korea-U.S. summit scheduled at APEC; president to attend ASEAN+3, G20
President Park Geun-hye arrived in Beijing on Sunday afternoon to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and to hold a separate meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at which they are expected to announce the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement.
During a meeting in Seoul four months ago, leaders of South Korea and China agreed to conclude FTA negotiations this year. Park’s office, however, refrained from commenting on the issue, stressing that negotiations were still underway.
“It is impossible and pointless to make predictions (about the negotiations) whether it will be concluded or not (during the APEC meeting),” said Ahn Jong-beom, senior presidential secretary for economy before departing for Park’s trip. Park and Xi are set to hold a summit on Monday morning.
Trade ministers of the two countries held talks over the weekend to reach a deal before the regional summit, but there were no clear signs of progress. The main bone of contention was tariff cuts. South Korea has requested a wider range of cuts on industrial products, while China is making similar demands on products from farms and fisheries.
If the two forge the FTA, South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, is expected to see its annual trade with China, the world’s second-largest economy, increase by $3.5 billion, according to officials at the Finance Ministry.
Korea is China’s fourth-largest trading partner after the U.S., Hong Kong and Japan, while exports to China account for more than a quarter of Korea’s total outbound shipments.
Park is also likely to hold a separate meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Beijing. Park’s senior secretary of foreign affairs, Ju Chul-ki told reporters Sunday that it was “highly likely” that the two leaders would hold a meeting, but didn’t give details of when or where it would be.
In the envisioned meeting with Obama, Park is expected to discuss ways of bolstering deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear threats and persuading the communist regime to improve its grave human rights conditions.
It will be their fourth meeting since Park took office in early 2013, and the first after the two countries agreed to delay the transfer of wartime operational control last month. Park’s meeting with Obama is also expected to give her government an opportunity to see whether the U.S. has changed its policy on the Korean Peninsula since the Republican takeover of Congress in last week’s midterm elections.
On Monday, Park begins her official schedule by attending a dialogue with members of the APEC Business Advisory Council, a meeting where she is to introduce the Korean government’s economic and regulatory reform aimed at creating a business-friendly environment.
On Tuesday, Park will attend the APEC summit to discuss ways to seek regional and economic partnerships with leaders from 20 Pacific Rim countries. She also holds a series of bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi.
After the APEC summit, she is set to attend two other regional meetings including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and the East Asia Summit in Myanmar, and the Group of 20 Summit in Australia.
On Wednesday, Park departs for Naypyidaw to discuss global cooperation on fighting the Ebola virus and the multinational terrorist group Islamic State. On sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three meeting, Park is set to meet New Zealand Premier John Key to discuss the negotiation of a free trade pact between the two countries.
Park will then fly to Brisbane on Friday to discuss regional issues including job creation and economic growth. She will meet Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to discuss bilateral cooperation on construction and infrastructure, officials said.
Asked of a possible meeting between Park and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Cheong Wa Dae said “nothing has been planned yet.”
Abe has twice asked to hold a summit with Park this fall to improve their countries’ ties, but Park has repeatedly demanded that Japan show sincerity toward historic disputes as a prerequisite for a summit. The two have not met one-on-one since Park took office early last year.
Park returns on Nov. 17.
By Cho Chung-un ()
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
