Curtain rises for G20 speakers’ meet

The curtain has been raised for the Group of 20 Seoul Speakers’ Consultation, the largest international event for the national parliaments.

Assembly speakers and delegates from 26 countries arrived here Wednesday to attend the Group of 20 Seoul Speakers’ Consultation, which kicks off its two-day run on Thursday. 
 

Participants will seek parliamentary solutions to a wide range of global issues, including terrorism and natural disasters.

The list of participants mainly included G20 states and also some select non-G20 countries, as well as the European Union and the Inter-parliamentary Union.

After the welcoming dinner at the Shilla Hotel on Wednesday, they are to engage themselves in a series of in-depth debate sessions for two days starting from Thursday.

Under the main theme “Development and Growth for Common Prosperity,” speakers will present their views on inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace, strategies for economic development, and international coordination towards shared growth.

In between the individual sessions, parliamentary speaker and convention host Park Hee-tae is also to hold bilateral talks with delegates of 11 countries, officials said.

“Not only are the discussion sessions significant, but these one-on-one bilateral talks are all the more crucial in establishing inter-state relationships,” said an official of the parliamentary preparatory committee.

Among attendants to the consultation are prominent parliamentary figures in local and international communities.

Meira Kumar, speaker of the Indian House of the People, is her country’s first female parliamentary head and also a pioneer in the local campaign against the Hindu caste system.

She and Park jointly attended on Wednesday the unveiling ceremony of the bust of renowned Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, which was installed in Seoul.

“Korea and India should work together to become lamps to enlighten Asia,” Park said. The poet is well-known here for referring to Korea as the “lamp of the East.”

Among the participants is also Yonah Martin, the first Korean immigrant to become senator of the Canadian parliament.

Eni Faleomavaega, a representative of the U.S. House, is widely known in the diplomatic circles for his expertise on inter-Korean issues.

With the series of these top-level talks taking place, the National Assembly exercised an extensive security system within and around its site.

Some 4,500 police officers are to be dispatched to the assembly, with some of them allocated to the five-star hotels around Seoul where the parliamentary speakers, their family members and assistants will be staying.

Car-screening checkpoints were also set up late Tuesday at the assembly’s main gate.

Special mirrors have been placed at all four gates so that security guards may screen the bottom of cars, officials said.

All delivered packages are to pass through the northern gate, where National Police Agency officers will be stationed with sniffer dogs to filter out harmful substances or explosives.

Security measures are being further enforced in and around the assembly’s main building where the sessions are to take place.

Anyone entering or leaving the building will have to pass through a metal detector and X-ray machine. They will also have their belongings inspected and identity checked, officials said.

Areas within the building have been grouped into three different zones -- the red zone indicating the main Rotunda Hall, the blue zone for the surrounding area and the other remaining sections which require relatively less attention.

Officials, visitors and reporters must have access cards in order to pass through each zone. The red and blue zones will be guarded at all times during the conference by parliamentary security officials.

“We have taken every precaution for the safety of the legislative leaders during this significant conference on global development and peace,” an official of the preparatory committee said.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)