MANILA -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in was set to attend a series of regional meetings on Tuesday involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its partners.

The South Korean president arrived here Sunday on a four-day visit that included the Korea-ASEAN summit held Monday.

Moon and the leaders of Japan and China were set to join the ASEAN Plus Three talks, aimed at enhancing the Northeast Asian countries' relationship and cooperation with 10 ASEAN countries, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The meeting will be followed by the 18-nation East Asia Summit which also involves the US, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and India.

The leaders, except the US and Russia, will later hold talks on an envisioned regional free trade pact, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

The 16 countries have held 20 rounds of formal negotiations for RCEP since they were launched 2012, but no clear breakthrough has emerged so far.

The leaders were widely expected to urge stepped up efforts by their chief negotiators to reach a deal in the near future, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.

Moon was also set for a bilateral meeting with Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.

The South Korean president will then host a dinner for South Korean residents and business people in the Philippines.

He is set to return home on Wednesday, ending his three-nation Southeast Asia trip that earlier took him to Indonesia and Vietnam. (Yonhap)