Assembly Speaker Park to embark on visits to Italy, Egypt

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug (Yonhap)

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug will travel to Italy and Egypt to attend a Group of 20 (G-20) meeting of parliamentary speakers in Rome and hold other bilateral meetings, his office said Tuesday.

Park will depart for Italy later Tuesday to attend the seventh G-20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit to be held from Thursday-Friday in Rome and the Pre-meeting of the General Assembly of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Pre-COP26) on Friday.

This year's G-20 parliamentary summit will delve into joint responses to overcoming the global pandemic and ensuring sustainable development, and Park will give his speech on the topic of "economic growth in terms of sustainability" on the first day of the meeting.

In Rome, he will also meet with counterparts from England, Saudi Arabia and other G-20 nations to discuss economic cooperation. At the Pre-COP26, Park and other participants will explore issues related to the recovery from COVID-19 as well as the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Climate Change.

Park will then fly to Egypt on Saturday to hold a series of talks with national leaders there on enhancing cooperation in the economy and national defense, according to Park's office.

During the meetings, the assembly speaker, in particular, plans to ask for Egypt's continued support for Seoul's Korean Peninsula Peace Process initiative as the country has diplomatic ties both with South and North Korea.

Officials said Park's upcoming visit to Egypt is in response to repeated requests from the country and marks the first such visit by the speaker of the National Assembly since 2009. (Yonhap)