President Park Geun-hye will attend the Group of 20 summit in China, followed by forums with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos early next month, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.

The president’s eight-day trip is to start on Sept. 2 with the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostock, Russia, and a bilateral summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the following day.

Park will then fly to Hangzhou on Sept. 4 for the two-day multilateral summit, an event themed “Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy,” according to a press release by the presidential foreign affairs office.

During the summit, the participating state leaders, including Park, will discuss ways to overcome global slow growth, stimulate economic growth and potential growth engines, as well as reinforce financial safety nets in response to market volatility, according to the Blue House.

US President Barack Obama, whose term is to end in January 2017, will also be attending.

The announcement of her visit to China comes amid escalating tension over the planned deployment of an advanced US anti-missile system here as defense against North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations.

China’s state media has been increasingly vocal over what it sees as an intimidating military decision and close attention is being paid to whether Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will address the issue on the sidelines of the G-20 gathering.
After the G-20 schedule, Park will move over to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on Sept. 7 for the ASEAN Plus Three summit and the East Asia Summit.

The 10-member Southeast Asian bloc, which has abundant natural resources and underdeveloped markets, is estimated to be the most promising outbound market for South Korea, especially amid the rise of trade protectionism around the globe. As of the end of 2015, ASEAN stood as Korea’s second-largest commerce partner, with some $120 billion in total trade volume, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

From Sept. 8, Park will be on a state visit to Laos, upon the invitation of Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith, marking the first official visit of a South Korean state leader to the Southeast Asian state since the two nations resumed diplomatic relationships in 1995. Korea and Laos had established ties in 1974, but ceased these ties when Laos became communist the following year.

“The visit is expected to add momentum to bilateral ties with the new Laotian government which was launched in April this year,” the presidential house said.

On Sept. 9, the leaders will hold a summit to seek cooperative measures in areas of mutual concern such as trade, investment, energy and development, and also exchange opinions on the Korean Peninsular agenda.

As with most of her other state visits, Park will attend a bilateral business forum and meet with South Korean nationals residing in Laos after the summit.

By Bae Hyun-jung(tellme@heraldcorp.com)