Korea has been selected to host the next Group of 20 summit in November next year, the first to be held since it was decided to make the forum an annual event at the third G20 summit in Pittsburgh on Friday.
The G20 brings together the world's most important economies and replaces the G8 as the main economic council of wealthy nations. Until now it has been only a provisional forum to discuss ways to overcome the global financial crisis the world has been facing, but with the decision to make it an annual event it will emerge as the command center for global economic policy. As the chair and host of the next summit, Korea will take center stage in discussing global issues. The selection of Korea for this important duty reflects the country's elevated international and economic standing.
During the first G20 summit in Washington D.C. last year, Korea worked aggressively to bridge the interests of advanced and emerging economies by proposing a year-long standstill on protectionist measures, which was included in the joint declaration issued at the summit's end. During the second G20 summit in London in April, Korea assisted in efforts to formulate an international guideline for disposing of insolvent assets based on its own experiences during the Asian financial crisis. These efforts enabled Korea to be chosen as the host of next year's forum.
The upcoming summit is expected to focus on reforming the framework of the post-crisis global economy. Ensuring balanced and sustainable growth, as discussed at the Pittsburgh summit, will likely emerge as a key agenda item. There are conflicting interests in tough issues such as resolving imbalances between countries with current account surpluses and deficits, and between advanced and emerging countries, as well as increasing the stakes of emerging economies in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. As the chair and host of the summit, Korea's abilities will be put to the test in selecting the agenda and in the ensuing rounds of negotiations.
Other areas, such as the selection of the venue and protocol, must also be handled with a great deal of attention to detail. In London, the seating arrangement for the dinner summit was hailed as a "diplomatic work of art" for paying close attention to international relations and other factors. The upcoming summit is an opportunity to showcase not only our diplomatic capabilities, but also our overall power encompassing politics, economy and culture. We must seize this opportunity to further improve Korea's international status.