By Yoon Sojung
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in and Russian President Vladimir Putin held summit talks in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sept. 6.

The two leaders discussed various measures to develop bilateral relations and ways to jointly respond to North Korean nuclear weapons issues.

The two leaders agreed to actively carry out economic cooperation projects by expanding the volume of bilateral trade to USD $30 billion and the number of people-to-people exchanges to more than 1 million by 2020 when the two countries mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

In a joint press conference after the summit, President Moon said, “I'm so far the first Korean president to visit this country so soon after inauguration, as we value our cooperation with Russia.”

“The Russian Far East is where Russia’s New East Asia Policy and Korea’s New Northern Policy meet,” said President Moon.

“In terms of the development of the Russian Far East, Korea is the best partner,” he added.



President Moon said, “The combination of vast resources in the Russian Fast East and Korea’s advanced technologies will make the region a land of opportunity for the prosperity of Korea and Russia.” In this regard, he introduced the presidential Northern Economic Cooperation Committee that was launched late last month and the Korea-Russia Local Cooperation Forum scheduled to be launched later this year.

President Vladimir Putin said, “Korea is one of the most important partners for Russia, and we have been maintaining a mutually beneficial economic relationship.” “Both countries will work together on many promising projects, and we will also cooperate on the port in Vladivostok,” he said.

Based on the results of the Korea-Russia Joint Economic Committee that was held on Sept. 4 in Vladivostok, the two leaders agreed to work together on an FTA between Korea and the countries in the Eurasian Economic Union.

President Moon said, “We agree that a free trade agreement between Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union would boost cooperation between Korea and Russia, and that with Eurasian countries.”

“For this reason, we agree to form a joint working unit between Seoul and Moscow to work on this,” he said.

The two leaders also shared their views on North Korean nuclear weapons and missile issues.

President Moon said, “Both of us strongly condemn North Korea for committing its sixth nuclear weapons test, despite continued warnings from the international community.”

“We share the common understanding that Pyongyang’s way toward developing nuclear missiles is the wrong path, and easing tension on the Korean Peninsula is an urgent task,” he said.

President Putin also said that, “Russia has neither admitted nor tolerated North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons, and never will,” said the Russian president.



arete@korea.kr