18 June 2012
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Harper this morning met with Lee Myung-bak, President of the Republic of Korea, before the opening of the G-20 Summit.
The meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of a number of bilateral and international issues. In particular, they discussed the state of the global economy, expectations for the Los Cabos G-20 Summit and the need for a clear plan of action to address the Eurozone crisis. The importance of trade liberalization was also underlined.
Prime Minister Harper used the occasion to stress the need for both countries conclude negotiations on the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which began in 2005.
The Prime Minister also conveyed that Canada would be moving to terminate its WTO beef case.
The meeting also provided an occasion to talk about mutual interest in energy security and cooperation. The Prime Minister re-iterated the positive achievements of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit held last March.
