Results of Republic of Korea-Republic of Singapore Summit

November 23, 2019

President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to hold a series of summits with the 10 leaders of ASEAN member states who are making official visits to Korea to attend the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit. For the start, President Moon and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held a summit from 11:04 a.m. today.

 At their summit, which lasted about an hour, the two leaders had extensive and in-depth discussions on ways to promote mutual prosperity and friendship as well as to work together to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

 President Moon said, “Busan, where the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit will be held, has been selected as a national smart pilot city, and the people of Busan in late 2021 will be able to start experiencing for themselves the lifestyle that a smart city can provide.” The President added, “Our two countries should promote bilateral cooperation so that we can jointly advance into third countries in the future by sharing each other’s smart city policies and corporate know-how.”

In reply, Prime Minister Lee said that smart cities are currently one of the major topics among many people. He went on to say that because different cities and countries have their own ideas about a smart city model, the necessary conditions and what areas require cooperation should be jointly discussed.

 Prime Minister Lee added that even though he has yet to visit Busan’s smart city, he had visited a control center in Seoul in the past and was deeply impressed by Seoul’s systematic operation back then.

 In reply, President Moon said, “Seoul’s project involves adding smart functions to the existing city. However, we have designated Busan and Sejong as national demonstration complexes to carry out tests for cases where all smart systems are integrated from square one. We envision a leading smart city model that combines ICT, artificial intelligence and eco-friendly energy.”

Speaking about the RCEP signed earlier this month in Thailand, Prime Minister Lee said that Korea’s strong support had contributed to the signing of the world's largest free trade agreement. The Prime Minister went on to say that it was regrettable that India did not join in the signing, but efforts should be made to include India in the final signing next year. President Moon expressed his agreement.

 President Moon said, "I hope that a positive decision will be made to help introduce Korean as a third foreign language in Singapore's public education curriculum so that the peoples of Korea and Singapore can become even closer through the use of the Korean language."

 Prime Minister Lee said that there are already a lot of people learning Korean through K-pop and Korean TV dramas in Singapore. The Prime Minister went on to say that there is so much interest in Korean among Singaporeans to the extent that a Singaporean official, not a professional interpreter, did impromptu interpreting at the first North Korea-United States summit.

 President Moon said, "I am looking forward to Singapore, the host of the first North Korea-United States summit, continuing to play a constructive role for the complete denuclearization and the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula." Prime Minister Lee said that peace on the Korean Peninsula can have a huge impact on the entire ASEAN region, expressing his agreement with the President.

 In addition, Prime Minister Lee said that Singapore will do all it can for peace, stability and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Prime Minister expressed the hope that there will be gradual progress in achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula by building trust through dialogue, emphasizing that his country will stand by Korea to that end.

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