Summit Confernce between Korea and Argentina

President Roh, who is officially visiting Argentina, held a summit with Argentina President Nestor Kirchner at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires yesterday and agreed, as a first step to trade agreement between Korea and the Mercosur, the common market of South America, to conduct a joint feasibility study.

Mercosur is a four-party economic cooperative which began in 1995 with the objective of free trade and customs union and consists of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Including associate members—Chile, Bolivia, and Peru—it consists of 51 percent of Central and South America’s population.

Concerning the U.N. reform issue, the two presidents agreed, “It is important to enhance the efficiency of democracy and the representation of the U.N. Security Council through the enlargement of non-permanent members.”

Through the joint statement announced right after the summit, the relationship between the two countries was raised one level up to a “comprehensive cooperation for co-prosperity in the 21st century,” and Korea decided to dispatch a joint research team of civilians and public officials for cooperation in the fields of agriculture, fishery, mining, and energy as soon as possible.

Following the summit, the two countries concluded a cooperation pact in the fields of economy and trade, culture and education, development of energy and mineral resources, and information technology (IT). The Korea Export-Import Bank and the Central Bank of Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding for an extension of $30 million in subletting (a domestic loan in which a domestic bank borrows money from a foreign bank and provides the fund) to the South American country.

Today, President Roh will leave the Ezeiza Airport of Buenos Aires on a special flight and visit Brazil, the second country of the tour.

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com