I am truly grateful to President Dmitry Medvedev and the people of Russia for inviting us and extending warm hospitality to the Korean delegation. At a one-on-one summit as well as extended talks today, we discussed a wide range of issues between our two countries and reached an accord on all of them. During the summit, we were able to reaffirm that we are now ready to put agreements into action.

Importantly, President Medvedev and I had candid, heart-to-heart discussions today on various matters of mutual interest, including the future direction of Korea-Russia relations, issues involving the Korean Peninsula, such as the North Korean nuclear problem, ways to reinforce substantive bilateral cooperation and how to work together in the international arena.

We shared recognition that the relationship between our two countries has made a quantum leap after only 18 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties. To further continue such remarkable strides, we reached an agreement to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic cooperative partnership. In a bid to substantially support enhanced bilateral relations and identify and implement concrete projects for collaboration, we agreed to vitalize exchanges and dialogues on various levels, including reciprocal visits by the two heads of state and strategic talks between the diplomatic authorities of the two countries.

To give shape to cooperation in diverse areas, we adopted a joint statement outlining a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations. With a common understanding that the potential for bilateral cooperation is enormous, we concurred on the need to bolster collaboration to elicit concrete and substantive accomplishments in a wide range of fields, including expansion of trade and investments and an increase in energy and resource cooperation as well as a partnership in space science and technology.

In particular, President Medvedev and I discussed the construction of an exclusive harbor in line with increasing economic exchanges, including cooperation in the fishing industry and increases in fishing quotas.

Among other things, it was decided that the natural gas produced in Russia will be supplied to the Korean Peninsula via pipelines by land. President Medvedev and I agreed to seek ways to realize various goals, including the construction of a harbor in far eastern Russia supported by connecting the trans-Korea railway with Russia’s trans-Siberia railway. We came to an agreement to work together for the joint development of oil reserves in western Kamchatka and the participation of Korean businesses in development projects in far eastern Siberia.

We agreed to designate 2010 as the Year of Korea and the Year of Russia for the future-oriented development of bilateral relations. To deepen mutual understanding between the peoples of our two countries, we agreed to prepare various cultural events in marking the 20th anniversary that year of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

President Medvedev and I voiced concern over recent measures taken by the North contravening the agreement to disable its nuclear facilities. We came to an agreement to work closely together to realize a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and to bring about peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. President Medvedev and I exchanged views on the active participation of the Korean Government to provide support for the success of the 2012 APEC Summit to be held in Vladivostok and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

President Medvedev and I agreed to strengthen collaboration on international initiatives in a bid to efficiently deal with global challenges such as the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

I asked President Medvedev to visit Korea sometime in the near future to help further develop bilateral relations, and he accepted my invitation. I am very pleased that President Medvedev and I came to personally know each other better at the summit and that we were able to build more trust. We also saw eye-to-eye on the possibility that the two countries would be able to expand bilateral relations more rapidly than we expected.

More detailed matters will be discussed in working-level meetings at the earliest possible date to translate what we discussed at today’s summit into action. Once again, it is very significant that bilateral relations have been elevated to the next level on the occasion of my visit to Russia. I extend my appreciation to President Medvedev and the people of Russia.

Thank you.