South Korea on Saturday signed an agreement with the European Union to participate in the economic bloc's project to develop a satellite navigation system, the office of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said.
The agreement on South Korea's participation in the Galileo Project was concluded on the occasion of Roh's summit with EU leaders earlier in the day, including Matti Vanhanen, the prime minister of Finland, which holds this year's rotating presidency of the EU, the office, Cheong Wa Dae, said.
Galileo, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency, will complement the existing Global Positioning System run by the United States for military and other purposes. A network of 30 satellites should be in orbit by the end of the year, and fully operational from 2008.
The formal deal comes three years after Seoul first mulled joining the project.
Roh arrived here on Thursday on the third leg of his 14-day swing through three European countries and the United States.
Following his arrival here, Roh held a summit with Finnish President Tarja Halonen and agreed to widen bilateral cooperation in the fields of information technology, science and logistics. He already visited Greece and Romania.
Roh also plans to attend the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which will take place here on Sunday and Monday with the heads of state from 39 Asian and EU member countries on hand.
"At this year's ASEM summit, President Roh and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will jointly preside over an Asian summit. The president will seek ASEM member countries' support for the peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear and missile problems and progress in inter-Korean relations," a Cheong Wa Dae official said.
Roh is scheduled to separately hold talks on the sidelines of the ASEM summit with his counterparts from Poland, Slovakia, Germany, France and Denmark.
In the U.S., Roh will visit Washington on Sept. 12-14 before a stopover in San Francisco on Sept. 14-15. Roh's summit with U.S. President George W. Bush on Sept. 14 will be the sixth of its kind since he was inaugurated in February 2003.
On Monday, Roh and Greek President Karolos Papoulias held a summit and agreed to increase practical bilateral cooperation in the fields of marine transportation and tourism.
South Korea and Romania held a summit on Wednesday and agreed to increase practical cooperation in trade and atomic power, and the information technology and science sectors.
In particular, Romania agreed to extend full support to South Korean companies willing to advance into its nuclear power plant construction market. Helsinki, Sept. 9 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea to join EU's Galileo satellite project |
