Lee, Aso, Wen to meet in Fukuoka over financial crisis

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, China and Japan plan to adopt a joint
statement on closer trilateral cooperation in overcoming the global financial
crisis and denuclearizing North Korea after their leaders hold a summit in the
Japanese city of Fukuoka this weekend, South Korea's presidential office Cheong
Wa Dae said Thursday.
"The joint statement to be signed by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak,
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at their meeting
in Fukuoka will call for forming a three-way partnership relationship," a top
Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.
"The three leaders will also discuss expanding foreign currency swap deals among
the three countries and accelerating a recent agreement with Southeast Asian
countries to create an US$80 billion joint fund by next June to fight a regional
financial crisis," said the official.
The summit will be held on Saturday.
He noted the three leaders will also sign an accord on disaster cooperation
before holding joint meetings with youth representatives and reporters from the
three countries.
Prior to the three-way meeting, Lee will separately meet with Aso and Wen for
discussions on pending bilateral issues, including closer cooperation on the
global economic crisis, the official said.
The Fukuoka meeting will be the first three-way summit talks to be held
separately from multilateral international forums. The three countries have met
annually on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus
Three summit.
The three countries had originally intended to meet in Japan in September, but
the plan was scrapped due to the sudden resignation of then Japanese Prime
Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
A Japanese newspaper reported earlier on Thursday that Seoul and Tokyo are
scheduled to sign a deal in Fukuoka to expand the ceiling of their foreign
currency credit swap line from the current $13 billion to $30 billion.
But the Cheong Wa Dae official said it is too early to mention the conclusion of
a new currency swap line deal between South Korea and Japan, noting the issue
will be finalized at the Fukuoka summit.
South Korea, faced with a weakening won and declining foreign exchange reserves,
has long sought to expand its foreign currency swap lines with Japan and China.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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