The President, currently visiting three European countries, will wrap up his eight-day trip and return home on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 14 (Korea time).

The President''s recent big achievement that came during his tour was finalizing the details for a Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement. He is to meet with Fredrik Reinfeldt, prime minister of Sweden and make official declaration of the Korea-EU FTA. The Ministry of Trade said.

Although the European tour began partly with the purpose of attending the extended G-8 summit in L''Aquila, Italy, President Lee focused more on drawing out the final details for Korea-EU FTA.

He made state visits to, in order, Poland, Italy and Sweden. It is largely viewed that this was to persuade the Polish and Italian heads of state first -- the two countries being previously unfavorably disposed towards the FTA -- before settling on the details with Sweden, the chair-nation of EU.

During the extended G-8 Summit on July 10 (Italy time) The President Lee and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi agreed in principle on the need to conclude the Korea-EU FTA. Even earlier, President Lee also elicited a favorable response on the same issue during his summit meeting with Polish President Lech Kaczynski on July 8 (Poland time).

The President was also lauded for upgrading Korean diplomacy.

“Seeing how world leaders value our opinion and proposals at the G-8 meeting in L''Aquila, I was able to confirm that the world is placing higher confidence in Korea,” President Lee said in his recent radio and Internet speech. The President Lee, who was invited to the G-8 meeting for two years in a row, suggested forming a working-level group for a Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF). His proposal was immediately adopted by U.S. President Barack Obama, who was also the chairman of the meeting.

During the G-8 trade session, President Lee as a leading speaker pointed out that efforts must be made to conclude the Doha Development Agenda at the next regular session of the World Trade Organization, scheduled for December this year in Geneva, Switzerland. This suggestion was reflected in the G8+G5 joint declaration -- which Korea did not take part in -- and also influenced the agreement to hold a trade ministers'' meeting just ahead of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh in September this year.

“The world seemed to have noticed Korea''s consistency in calling for the exclusion of trade protectionism,” President Lee said during the press conference held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Korea was also selected as the leading nation in the field of smart grids and attracted further attention with its low carbon green growth policy.

Lee became the third Korean president to meet with the Pope in Vatican City, making a courtesy call on Pope Benedict XVI.