[Major Events] What’s planned in Korea and overseas

Major Events in 2011 January

1: Brazil’s new president Dilma Rousseff takes office 1: Estonia joins euro club 1: France takes over the presidency of Group of Eight 6-9: Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas 14: U.S. Defense Minister Robert Gates to visit Korea 19: Barack Obama-Hu Jintao summit in Washington 26-30: World Economic Forum in Davos

Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Jan. 19.

February

6-11: World Social Forum in Dakar 10-20: Berlin International Film Festival 13: Grammy Wards (Feb. 13) 14-20: IOC inspection of Korea’s bid site for 2018 Winter Olympics 16: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s 69th birthday 27: The Academy Awards in Hollywood

The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony will honor the best in film of 2010 on Feb. 27.

March

3-13: Geneva Motor Show 　 4-8: Brazil Rio Carnival 5: Opening of annual session of China’s National Legislature 6: Estonia holds parliamentary elections 15: First summit meeting of Arab League in Iraq since the U.S-led invasion in 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein 21-27: World Figure Skating Championships

China’s National Legislature opens its annual session on March 5

April

1: Launch of U.S. space shuttle Endeavor 4: Tee-off of the Masters Tournament 10: Peru holds presidential and general elections 12: Announcement of Pulitzer Prize winners 13-16: Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in China 16: Spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank 21-28: Shanghai Auto Show 27: National Assembly by-elections in Korea 29: Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton marry at London’s Westminster Abbey

Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton tie the knot on April 29.

May

5: Britain holds elections for the Scottish parliament, Welsh National Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and local English councils. 11-22: Cannes International Film Festival in France 14: Germany holds the Eurovision song contest 21: The Life Ball, Europe’s largest HIV/AIDS charity gala, takes place in and around Vienna’s city hall.

Britain holds elections for the Scottish Parliament, and the Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies on May 5.

June

2: OPEC meeting in Vienna 4-5: Pope Benedict XVI visits predominantly Roman Catholic Croatia for the first time. 6-10: International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting in Vienna 6-July 3: Wimbledon tennis championships 29: The first anniversary of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between the governments of China and Taiwan *G8 summit in Nice, France (date not determined yet)

Leaders of the Group of Eight will hold a summit in Nice, France in June.

July

1: Korea-EU FTA takes effect 1: Poland takes over presidency of the Council of the European Union 1: 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party 1: Planned start of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan 6: Announcement of the 2018 Winter Olympic host city 6: Foundation in Caracas of a new Americas bloc including all nations except the U.S. and Canada 13: Worldwide release of the last “Harry Potter” film

The IOC will announce the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games on July 6. PyeongChang is a bid city for the Games.

August

6: 66th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing 13: 50th anniversary of the Berlin Wall collapse 15: Korea’s 66th anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japan’s colonial rule 16-21: World Youth Day in Madrid 27-Sept. 4: World Athletics Championships in Daegu, Korea

The World Athletics Championships will take place in Daegu from Aug. 27-Sept. 4.

September

2-Oct. 23: Gwangju Design Biennale in Korea 11: 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. 13: U.N. General Assembly 66th session 15-25: Frankfurt International Motor Show 24-26: Annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank

The U.S. will mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2011

October

4-11: Announcement of annual Nobel Prize winners 10: North Korea’s 66th anniversary of the founding of Workers’ Party 12-16: Frankfurt Book Fair 14-16: F1 Korea Grand Prix 23: Elections for Swiss federal parliament *Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) (date note determined)

The Korean Grand Prix will take place Oct. 14-16.

November

3-4: G20 Summit in Cannes, France 12-13: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu, Hawaii 10: 10th anniversary of China’s entry into the World Trade Organization 19-20: NATO summit

The G20 Summit will be held in Cannes, France Nov. 3-4.

December

3-11: Tokyo Motor Show 4 (tentative): Parliamentary elections in Russia, which will set the stage for a presidential election in March 2012　 15-17: Ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization 31: Deadline for all U.S. troops to be out of Iraq

The U.S. is scheduled to pull all of its troops out of Iraq by Dec. 31.