South Korean President Heads to Indonesia

Seoul, MINA – South Korean President Moon Jae-in left for Indonesia Wednesday on a state visit that will include a bilateral summit with his Indonesian counterpart and other political and business leaders there, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The trip comes as part of a three-nation Southeast Asia trip that will later take him to Vietnam and the Philippines for regional forums.

The South Korean leader is due in Jakarta later in the day for a three-day visit. It will mark his first-ever state visit to a foreign country since taking office in May, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

Moon and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo are scheduled to hold a bilateral summit on Thursday to discuss ways to boost the countries’ economic and trade relations, as well as their defence cooperation.

Indonesia is the largest importer of South Korean arms in all of Asia, according to South Korean officials.

Before the summit, Moon plans to attend a joint business forum where he is expected to introduce his New South Policy that seeks to greatly improve his country’s diplomatic and economic ties with Southeast Asian countries, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.

On Friday, he will head to Vietnam’s Da Nang for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that will involve leaders from 20 other member economies, including US President Donald Trump.

Moon and Trump held their third bilateral summit in Seoul earlier this week.

Moon is scheduled to hold a bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC meeting. It will mark their second bilateral talks.

On Sunday, Moon will reach his third and final destination, Manila.

In Manila, he will again be joined by his US counterpart and 14 other global leaders for the East Asia Summit that will be followed by another regional forum hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The ASEAN forum, known as the ASEAN Plus Three summit, involves all 10 member states of ASEAN and the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan.

Moon will return home next Wednesday. T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)