Moon to join G-20 summit, set for talks with Putin

OSAKA, Japan, June 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will use this week's Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Japan to highlight South Korea's peace initiative and readiness to help address pending global issues, his office said Thursday. This year's G-20 session, the 14th of its kind, is to focus on the global economy, trade and investment, innovation, climate change, the environment and energy, as well as addressing inequalities and realizing an inclusive and sustainable world. Moon is joining the two-day session to open here later in the day. The leaders of 19 leading economies including the United States and China are members of the forum, along with the European Union. Also invited as observers are Spain, the Netherlands, Egypt, Senegal, Chile, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. Moon plans to hold one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on its sidelines. He's also meeting separately with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. He's planning "pull-aside" meetings with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, for which schedules have not been announced yet. Drawing keen attention is whether Moon will meet bilaterally with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Moon's aides said earlier that he has proposed such a meeting but that Japan has not responded. Seoul-Tokyo relations have chilled amid disputes over compensation issues associated with Japan's brutal colonization of Korea from 1910-45. lcd@yna.co.kr (END)