Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement after his bilateral meeting with President Lee Myung-bak of Korea:
"Thank you, President Lee and all our Korean hosts for your gracious hospitality to Laureen and me. We are both honoured to be here on our first visit to this country that is so full of history, some of it shared history, and of course it was a great privilege to address the National Assembly.
"Canada and Korea have excellent relations, strong historical connections, direct links between our peoples and, of course, we cooperate on many global issues.
"President Lee and I had excellent discussions on regional security, global issues and, of course, coordination of the G-20 meetings next year. I look forward to working closely with President Lee as Canada hosts our G-20 summit in Toronto on June 26th and 27th, 2010. I also look forward to returning to Korea next fall for the G-20 meeting here. We will be co-chairing those meetings.
"With the first signs of economic recovery, it is critical that these summits build on the work done in Washington, London and Pittsburgh to foster a return to sustainable growth.
"We also discussed our bilateral relationship, including economic opportunities and challenges as well as Korea's welcome contribution to Afghanistan. Once again, thank you very much, President Lee. I look forward to seeing you very soon in Copenhagen."
