On March 4 to 6, the President of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr Lee Myung-bak will visit Australia.
Australia and the Republic of Korea enjoy a substantial and growing bilateral relationship based on strong economic, people-to-people and historical links.
I look forward to meeting President Lee during his visit to discuss opportunities to further strengthen the excellent bilateral relations between our two countries, including in the areas of trade and security cooperation.
I will also discuss with President Lee the shared regional and global challenges we face, including responding to the global financial crisis.
Korea is Australia's sixth-largest trading partner and fourth-largest export market, with total trade in 2007-08 of $22.8 billion and exports from Australia worth $16.1 billion.
Around 115,000 people of Korean descent live in Australia and towards the end of 2008 around 35,000 Korean students were enrolled to study in Australia.
We share common democratic values and interests in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.