President Lee to meet leaders of ASEAN, Japan and China

President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Indonesia on Thursday to attend summit talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan and China, where leaders will discuss how to strengthen regional economic and diplomatic cooperation.

His six-day trip includes a state visit to the Philippines, during which Lee will seek to bolster bilateral economic cooperation, Seoul officials said.

As the ASEAN meetings come on the heels of other multilateral summits including the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hawaii, they will help deepen discussions on pending global issues such as the eurozone debt crisis, observers said.

On Friday, Lee will attend the ASEAN Summit and the annual ASEAN Plus Three Summit, which includes China and Japan.

He is expected to seek ways to shield his country from the fallout of the economic crisis in Europe through a set of measures such as diversifying trade partners in the region.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Since Korea and ASEAN launched an official ties 22 years ago, they have deepened their cooperative ties in political, economic and socio-cultural areas. Last year, the two elevated their relationship to a “strategic partnership.”

“Through these ASEAN related summits, our government will strengthen our effective cooperative ties with ASEAN members. By expressing our will to actively join efforts to deepen cooperation in the East Asian region, we will seek to enhance our status and role,” a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said last week.

During the South Korea-ASEAN summit, Lee plans to underscore that concerted efforts are necessary to narrow the development gap between advanced and developing countries, and secure mutually beneficial growth engines. He also plans to touch on green growth as a joint response to the climate change.

Before the ASEAN meetings, Lee was to hold bilateral talks with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday. They were to discuss cooperation in the defense industry such as the joint development of combat aircraft.

Earlier this year, Indonesia signed a deal with South Korea to join Seoul’s project to develop new fighter jets. South Korea has been pursuing the KF-X project since 2000 to replace its aging F-4 and F-5 fighter jets with homegrown aircraft.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three Summit, leaders of South Korea, Japan and China will meet to discuss economic cooperation and peninsular security issues including those concerning North Korea.

On Saturday, Lee will attend the East Asia Summit, which his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama is scheduled to join. EAS member states are ASEAN Plus Three countries, the U.S., Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The U.S. and Russia obtained the EAS membership last year. EAS was launched in 2005 with an aim to forge an “East Asia Community.” Its inception came amid calls for better regional cooperation in security, diplomatic and economic areas.

On Monday, Lee is set to hold summit talks with Philippines President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino. There, Lee is to sign a set of agreements on economic cooperation.

Lee is to return home on Tuesday.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)