Park, Obama to hold summit amid NK provocations

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday will hold a summit with her US counterpart Barack Obama in Vientiane to discuss an array of issues, including North Korea's continued provocations, her office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The summit will be held in the afternoon -- hours after Park arrives in the Laotian capital to attend a series of summits with the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Their talks were arranged amid Pyongyang's continued provocations, including its launch of three mid-range ballistic missiles Monday. The missiles traveled some 1,000 kilometers and fell into waters within Japan's air defense identification zone, Seoul's military officials said.

Observers say the two leaders will use their summit to send a unified message against the communist state's provocations, and its evolving nuclear and missile programs.

Photo taken on Sept. 4,shows President Park Geun-hye (left) talking with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama during their attendance at the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Hangzhou, eastern China. (Yonhap)

The planned summit between Park and Obama is the first since their last meeting held on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. in March.

Park will also hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related forums on Wednesday, a source said.

Laos is the third and last leg of Park's eight-day trip that also took her to Russia and China. (Yonhap)