Lee to visit Russia, France next week

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will visit Russia and France next week to hold summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Saint Petersburg and to attend this year's summit in Cannes of the Group of 20 major economies, his office announced Monday. After arriving in Saint Petersburg on Nov. 1, Lee plans to meet with the Russian president the following day for talks on bilateral relations, economic cooperation, the standoff over North Korea's nuclear programs and other regional and global issues, the office said in a statement. Lee and Medvedev are also expected to discuss an ambitious project to build a transnational pipeline to transport Russian natural gas to South Korea via the communist North. The project has drawn keen media attention because it could help reduce tensions on the divided peninsula. The massive project, which has been discussed for about 20 years but never materialized, due in part to security tensions, gained momentum after the North's leader Kim Jong-il expressed his willingness to permit the envisioned pipeline to go through the nation during summit talks with Medvedev in August. Lee has said the project is workable as it would benefit all sides involved. After the summit, Lee and Medvedev are scheduled to attend the closing ceremony of the second round of "Korea-Russia Dialogue," a civilian-led forum aimed at increasing cooperation between the two countries. Lee plans to deliver a congratulatory speech at the ceremony, the office said. It will be Lee's third trip to Russia since taking office. The presidential office said the upcoming trip is expected to strengthen friendship and trust between the two leaders and help upgrade the partnership between the countries. On Nov. 3, Lee will visit Cannes for a G20 summit to discuss with other world leaders ways of tackling the Eurozone debt crisis, coordinating macroeconomic policies, reforming international monetary systems and other issues facing the global economy, the office said. Lee also plans to deliver a speech at a business leaders' forum to be held on the sidelines of the summit. The address will be about the roles of corporations in overcoming the crisis, it said. South Korea is one of the "troika" countries as it hosted the last meeting in Seoul. The country plans to help the upcoming summit produce specific outcomes on the issues that it has pushed for, such as development issues and a financial safety net, to carry on the achievements of the Seoul summit while trying to strengthen its roles in the premier economic forum, the office said.