President Kim to leave to attend ¡®ASEAN plus 3¡¯ meeting

President Kim Dae-Jung and First Lady Lee Hee-Ho will leave Thursday for Singapore to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Three -- Korea, China and Japan -- meeting and to pay state visits to Singapore and Indonesia.

While participating in the ASEAN plus Three meeting to be held Nov. 24-25, President Kim will discuss ways to promote the common interests of Asian nations and measures to step up cooperation between Korea and ASEAN members.

In particular, Kim is scheduled to hold tripartite talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. The three leaders will exchange views on the development of inter-Korean relations and means to promote economic and cultural cooperation.

From Nov. 25 to 27, the Korean president will visit Singapore and will hold a summit with Singaporean Prime Minister Koh Chok Tong on the advancement of bilateral economic collaboration. On Nov. 28, Kim will make a state visit to Indonesia to hold a summit with his Indonesian counterpart on the smooth supply of Indonesian oil to Korea. Kim is scheduled to return home on Nov. 29.