The President was in France on Thursday for the 2011 G-20 Cannes summit, where he agreed with European leaders to deepen the strategic partnerships between Korea and the EU.

The President met with President Herman Van Rompuy of the European Council, an institution of the EU, and President José Manuel Durão Barroso of the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, where they also discussed the summit, the financial crisis facing the EU, and the Korea-EU free trade agreement that tentatively took effect this July.

Trade between Korea and EU nations increased 11.8 percent year-on-year for the period of July to September, for a total of US$25.36 billion.

Following the meeting, the President also attended a business luncheon with other leaders of G-20 nations, and earlier that morning he met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, with whom he discussed issues such as sustainable development, international development assistance, the Middle East, and the G-20 and UN’s roles in solving the current economic crisis.

At the summit, The President and other leaders met to tackle several mid- to long-term issues, such as strengthening of financial regulation, reforming of the international money system, and international development.

By Jon Dunbar
Korea.net Editor