President Lee Myung-bak met with the leaders of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Thailand on Saturday.
During the South Korea-ASEAN summit held in the southern Thai beach resort of Hua Hin, South Korea and the regional group agreed to consider upgrading bilateral relations from the current comprehensive cooperative partnership to a strategic partnership.
The two sides also reviewed progress in the implementation of a joint statement adopted at their commemorative summit at the South Korean resort island of Jeju in June. The joint statement committed the two sides to development cooperation, low-carbon green growth, and cultural and human exchanges.
Later in the afternoon, Lee participated in the ASEAN Plus Three summit with the leaders of Japan and China to discuss major global issues, such as the global economic crisis, climate change, and food and energy security.
The president stressed continued international cooperation to overcome the economic and financial crisis and urge efforts to launch the 120-billion-U.S. dollar Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) to combat regional financial crises.
Thailand is the final stop on the president's three-nation tour that also brought him to Vietnam and Cambodia earlier in the week. Lee’s visits are expected to raise support for his “New Asia Initiative,” which involves the creation of a unified regional community.