ID :
21783
Mon, 09/29/2008 - 10:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/21783
The shortlink copeid
Lee begins official visit to Russia
By Yoo Cheong-mo
MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak began his three-day official visit to Russia Sunday, with his separate meetings with South Korean residents here and Russian government and business leaders, including the mayor of Moscow.
Lee, accompanied by first lady Kim Yoon-ok and 14 official and special delegates,
arrived at a Moscow airport earlier Sunday and was greeted by Russia's vice
foreign minister and other government officials. He became the first South Korean
president to visit Russia in his inaugural year.
Shortly after his arrival, Lee met with a group of South Korean residents and
correspondents here and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov before attending a dinner
hosted by the Korea-Russia Friendship Association.
The president also awarded citations to three Russian government officials,
including chiefs of anti-narcotics and federal aviation agencies, for their
contributions to improving bilateral relations.
At the meetings, Lee stressed the need for closer across-the-board cooperation
between South Korea and Russia.
"Russia is a strategically important country for South Korea. Thus we are
required to reinforce our relations with Russia. My Russian visit is also
meaningful in capping off the nation's summit diplomacy with the four superpowers
(surrounding the Korean Peninsula)," Lee told his delegates aboard his chartered
Asiana Airlines flight to Moscow.
"We need to have a strategic approach to Russia, with our sights set on 30 years
later. As far back as the 1800s, a Russian scholar predicted the development of
resources in East Siberia would lead to national prosperity. Global climate
change will further facilitate Siberia's resources development," said Lee.
On Monday, Lee will hold his second summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
over closer bilateral cooperation in energy, resources and industrial
technologies. The two first met on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in
Japan in July.
Following the Lee-Medvedev summit, the two countries plan to seal a total of 13
MOUs calling for strategic partnership relationships in the fields of energy,
resources, investment, industrial technology and information technology,
according to Lee's aides.
Lee will also separately meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and
Russian business leaders and journalists after the summit talks.
Lee is expected to ask the Russian leaders to play a bigger role in promoting
peace in Northeast Asia, as well as in salvaging the shaky six-nation talks on
disabling North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Russia's stance on North Korea will draw strong interest, as the communist North
is now on the brink of restarting its nuclear weapons program shut down in July
last year under a landmark disarmament deal with South Korea, the U.S., China,
Russia and Japan.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak began his three-day official visit to Russia Sunday, with his separate meetings with South Korean residents here and Russian government and business leaders, including the mayor of Moscow.
Lee, accompanied by first lady Kim Yoon-ok and 14 official and special delegates,
arrived at a Moscow airport earlier Sunday and was greeted by Russia's vice
foreign minister and other government officials. He became the first South Korean
president to visit Russia in his inaugural year.
Shortly after his arrival, Lee met with a group of South Korean residents and
correspondents here and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov before attending a dinner
hosted by the Korea-Russia Friendship Association.
The president also awarded citations to three Russian government officials,
including chiefs of anti-narcotics and federal aviation agencies, for their
contributions to improving bilateral relations.
At the meetings, Lee stressed the need for closer across-the-board cooperation
between South Korea and Russia.
"Russia is a strategically important country for South Korea. Thus we are
required to reinforce our relations with Russia. My Russian visit is also
meaningful in capping off the nation's summit diplomacy with the four superpowers
(surrounding the Korean Peninsula)," Lee told his delegates aboard his chartered
Asiana Airlines flight to Moscow.
"We need to have a strategic approach to Russia, with our sights set on 30 years
later. As far back as the 1800s, a Russian scholar predicted the development of
resources in East Siberia would lead to national prosperity. Global climate
change will further facilitate Siberia's resources development," said Lee.
On Monday, Lee will hold his second summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
over closer bilateral cooperation in energy, resources and industrial
technologies. The two first met on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in
Japan in July.
Following the Lee-Medvedev summit, the two countries plan to seal a total of 13
MOUs calling for strategic partnership relationships in the fields of energy,
resources, investment, industrial technology and information technology,
according to Lee's aides.
Lee will also separately meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and
Russian business leaders and journalists after the summit talks.
Lee is expected to ask the Russian leaders to play a bigger role in promoting
peace in Northeast Asia, as well as in salvaging the shaky six-nation talks on
disabling North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Russia's stance on North Korea will draw strong interest, as the communist North
is now on the brink of restarting its nuclear weapons program shut down in July
last year under a landmark disarmament deal with South Korea, the U.S., China,
Russia and Japan.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
