South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to visit Russia next week for a bilateral summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and other heads of state, as well as a regional forum aimed at boosting economic cooperation in Northeast Asia that includes Russia's Far East, an official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.
The president will depart Wednesday for Vladivostok, where he will attend the Eastern Economic Forum, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun.
Shortly after his arrival on a two-day visit, the South Korean leader will hold bilateral talks with Putin on a wide range of issues that will include North Korea and its recent missile provocations.
The communist North staged nine missile launches since the new South Korean president took office in May.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. (Yonhap)
The Moon-Putin meeting will mark the second of its kind since Moon's inauguration. The two briefly met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit held in Hamburg, Germany, in early July.
"After arriving on Sept. 6, the president will have many important schedules, such as bilateral and expanded summit talks with President Putin, a joint press conference and a ceremony marking the signing of important agreements between the two countries," Park told a press briefing.
On Thursday, Moon will hold a bilateral summit with Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga for discussions on various issues that will include ways to improve the countries' relationship and jointly deal with North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, according to Park.
The South Korean president is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his two-day trip but details of the Korea-Japan summit have not yet been fixed, he added. (Yonhap)
