South Korea welcomes United Nations and other G20 world leaders. With a focus on improving the global economy to better the lives of millions, international heads of state and other dignitaries arrived for the meeting being held in Seoul on Thursday and Friday this week. Hosting the event is South Korea’s President Lee Myung Bak, whose opening address reflected the attendees’ general optimism for this significant gathering, as did United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who stated, “I am very hopeful that this G20 summit meeting will be a great success in addressing not only this imminent financial and economic crisis, but also … development, … climate change… and trade imbalance issues, which will [provide] a great sense of hope to many poor and most vulnerable countries.”

We thank all participants and hosting South Korea for your united concern and cooperative efforts. May your collaborative leadership bring bountiful fruits of greater well-being for people in nations across the globe.