By Park Gil-ja and Yoon Sojung
President Moon Jae-in will begin the next overseas trip on Nov. 27 in the Czech Republic before heading to Argentina for the G20 Leaders’ Summit and then to New Zealand.
The eight-day visit will be the final presidential trip of this year, which will concentrate on diplomacy for denuclearization and support for the next summit between North Korea and the U.S.
President Moon has been busy playing the role of peacemaker for denuclearization this year. The beginning of this trip is only nine days since President Moon came back home from his last overseas trip for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting. The upcoming trip will complete summit diplomacy for this year which has diversified the scope of Korean diplomacy ranging from Asia, North America, Europe, South America and Oceania.
Before visiting Buenos Aires, President Moon will make a stopover in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, on Nov. 27-28. He will hold a summit with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in Prague as well as meet ethnic Korean residents and businesspeople there.
President Moon will then head to Buenos Aires, Argentina, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 for the G20 Leaders’ Summit on the theme of “Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development.”
Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Yoon Jong-won said on Nov. 23 that, “The theme of this year’s G20 has the same direction as that of the Korean government’s vision of an ‘inclusive state where all people prosper together.’”
Yoon said at the Chunchugwan Press Center of Cheong Wa Dae that, “President Moon will promote Seoul’s policies that integrate innovation, fairness and inclusiveness and emphasize the need of working together to jointly respond to the polarization of the world economy and the transition to a digital economy.”
President Moon will work hard to secure support of the international community for the Korean Peninsula peace process at the G20.
President Moon will also hold a series of summits with the leaders of Argentina, the Netherlands, and the South African Republic. It will be the first summit between Seoul and Buenos Aires in 14 years. Regarding the Korea-Argentina summit, Second Deputy Director of National Security Nam Gwan-pyo said that, “Both Korean and Argentinean leaders will discuss measures to bolster the comprehensive cooperation partnership.”
President Moon will then head to New Zealand, the last leg of his trip, for a state visit. In Wellington, President Moon will hold meetings with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Patsy Reddy, governor-general of New Zealand, before going back to Seoul.
“In the Seoul-Wellington summit which will be the first in nine years, the two leaders will discuss concrete measures to create synergy so that both Korea’s New Southern Policy and New Zealand’s Pacific Reset foreign policy can contribute to peace and prosperity,” Nam said.
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