Today the President and I have agreed to two major steps which mark the start of a new phase in the Australia-Korea relationship.
First, we have agreed to begin negotiations towards a free trade agreement.
Korea is Australia's fourth-largest export market - making this free trade agreement an important goal for us.
Second, we have released a joint statement on security cooperation.
With our shared values, our common alliance ties to the United States and our history of defence cooperation, this statement will provide a framework for taking forward our defence cooperation into the future.
We also agreed on a number of other initiatives.
2011 will be the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and we are announcing that it will be a “year of friendship” between Australia and Korea with a program of cultural and other activities.
We will arrange a dialogue between opinion makers from both nations in the near future for them to chart a course ahead for our relationship.
Beyond the bilateral meeting today, we discussed regional and global challenges - in particular, the global economic recession and the upcoming G20 leaders meeting in London.
We agreed to coordinate our approaches very closely, particularly on the key challenges of dealing with toxic assets and reforming the International Monetary Fund.
I would like to congratulate Korea on becoming the chair of the G20 next year. The President and I today discussed the future of our region and agreed that we need to focus on the future of our region and the institutions that serve it.
Australia and Korea were instrumental in the formation of APEC. We plan to maintain that historical level of cooperation between our Governments.
On regional challenges, I told President Lee that we support him and his Government in dealing with the challenge of North Korea.
See the Joint Statement on Enhanced Global and Security Cooperation Media Release.