President Park Geun-hye arrived in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Wednesday to attend two regional conferences to discuss a wide range of issues from terrorist attacks to the deadly Ebola virus and North Korea.
The capital of the Southeast Asian country was Park’s second-leg of her nine-day tour. Before Myanmar, Park attended a two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing at which she held separate talks with Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping.
On her first day in Myanmar, Park held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was her first meeting with Modi, who took power in May. The two discussed ways to bolster their economic, diplomatic and security cooperation and take follow-up measures for an agreement that the two countries had reached early this year. During Park’s state visit to India, the world’s largest democracy and second-most populous country, the two countries agreed to elevate the level of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement.
After the summit, Park attended a welcoming banquet hosted by the president of Myanmar for leaders attending the East Asia Summit, including the U.S. president.
The East Asia Summit is an 18-nation forum grouping the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus its eight dialogue partners ― South Korea, China, Japan, the United States, Russia, Australia, India and New Zealand.
On Thursday, participants in the East Asia Summit are expected to discuss ways to deal with global issues such as the Ebola virus and the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Park’s office said.
Park also plans to attend a summit between ASEAN and its three Northeast Asian dialogue partners ― South Korea, China and Japan. ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
The South Korean president is set to use the ASEAN Plus Three summit as a global platform to urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and reenter talks.
Park’s visit to Myanmar also drew attention from domestic media as she was expected to meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, has been mentioned as a prominent presidential hopeful. The U.N. chief, however, denied media reports that he was interested in running for the presidency.
Park has met Ban four times since entering office early last year. In September while Park was attending the U.N. General Assembly, the two held a separate meeting to discuss various issues including North Korea’s nuclear weapon development and measures to provide humanitarian aid to help starving people in the world’s most isolated regime.
By Cho Chung-un, news reports ()
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
