Aso's envoys deliver letter to S. Korea's Lee over crisis

SEOUL, Nov. 6 Kyodo - Special envoys of Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso met with South Korean Finance Minister Kang Man Soo on Thursday and handed Kang a letter from Aso to President Lee Myung Bak to seek South Korea's cooperation in tackling the ongoing financial crisis.

In the letter, Aso emphasized the necessity of cooperating in the financial
sector by establishing a consultative framework to monitor financial
institutions and markets, a Japanese official said in a briefing about the
content of the letter.
Toyoo Gyohten, a former vice finance minister for international affairs and
president of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs, and Yoshiji
Nogami, a former vice foreign minister, arrived in Seoul earlier Thursday for
talks with Kang.
The Japanese premier dispatched them to South Korea to prepare for the Nov.
14-15 global financial summit in Washington, which will bring together major
developed and emerging economies. The two were appointed as emissaries and
economic advisers to Aso on Tuesday.
In the talks with Kang, Gyohten and Nogami offered Aso's views on the financial
crisis, including the necessity of strengthening the transparency of credit
rating agencies, the official said.
Meanwhile, Kang emphasized the need to further promote the Chiang Mai
Initiative, and to expand the $80 billion currency fund created to help Asian
economies cope with liquidity problems.
The Chiang Mai Initiative is a safety net aimed at helping participating
countries fight speculative attacks on their currencies.
Under the currency swap scheme, countries pool their foreign reserves so that
they could be diverted to any participant plunged into a foreign exchange
crisis.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam -- plus South Korea, Japan and China take part in the program to
address short-term liquidity difficulties in the region.
The 13 countries' finance ministers agreed in May to expand the existing
network from a web of bilateral schemes to a multilateral operation worth $80
billion.
Gyohten and Nogami are also planning a trip to China, India and Indonesia in
the run-up to the Washington summit, but their schedule has not yet been fixed,
according to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.
Leaders of the Group of 20 economies are scheduled to convene at the summit to
be hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush, which will explore ways to overcome
the ongoing global financial crisis and how to prevent a recurrence.
The G-20 economies are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China,
France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United States and the European Union.