South Korean President Park Geun-hye called Tuesday for thorough preparations for an upcoming summit with her counterparts of 10 Southeast Asian countries to further strengthen ties.
Park described the multilateral summit as "an important conference" to lay out a blue print for cooperation among South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Park's comments at a Cabinet meeting came two days before she plans to host a special summit for the Asian leaders in South Korea's second-largest city of Busan.
The two-day summit, set to begin on Thursday, is designed to boost the strategic partnership with ASEAN on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue between South Korea and ASEAN, according to Park's office.
ASEAN is South Korea's No. 2 investment destination and second-largest trade partner, with two-way trade amounting to $135 billion last year.
Park was to meet with Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on Tuesday, the first in a series of bilateral meetings scheduled with Asian leaders later this week on the sidelines of the summit.
Park met with ASEAN leaders in Myanmar in November.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. (Yonhap)
