The President attended series of summit talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, including the ASEAN+3 Summit and East Asian Summit (EAS), to increase regional cooperation and broaden support for next month''s G-20 Seoul Summit.

The President attended the Korea-ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN+3 Summit meetings in Hanoi on October 29 to exchange opinions with other world leaders on major global issues such as economic recovery, sustainable growth, regional cooperation, and climate change.

The President praised the expansion of cooperation between Korea, China and Japan in a wide variety of areas, including the environment, energy, education, economics, and trade.

During the talks, the President proposed forming an “East Asia Vision Group II,” to strengthen regional cooperation. The group would review the outcomes of cooperative projects carried out by ASEAN countries and take part in directing future regional development.

The President also proposed establishing a meeting of foreign ministers from South Korea and from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand to help boost economic cooperation and reduce the development gaps among ASEAN countries. The leaders also exchanged ideas to strengthen and expand the green growth sector.

Leaders of South Korea, Japan and China held separate talks to discuss regional security and other pending issues in Hanoi on Friday afternoon. The President and Prime Ministers Naoto Kan of Japan and Wen Jiabao of China discussed pending issues such as North Korean nuclear ambitions and currency conversion rates. They all agreed that further cooperation and trust in each other were essential to strengthening these sectors.

The President (center), Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan (left) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (right) shake hands at the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 30.

On October 30, the last day of his visit, the President attended the East Asia Summit (EAS), a pan-Asian forum lead by ASEAN, and attended by representatives from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.  Economic issues and climate change were at the forefront of discussions, which lead to the adoption of the “Hanoi Declaration,” outlining the future of the EAS and marking the fifth anniversary of the forum.

The President also met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and agreed to resolve issues relating to the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement.

The President asked for the active interest and support of ASEAN nations in order to successfully host the Seoul G-20 summit.