Russian, South Korean leaders to confer on bilateral issues in informal atmosphere
SEOUL. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye agreed to continue the discussion of a broad range of bilateral cooperation issues after the end of official negotiations, at a reception held by the Korean leader in honor of the Russian guest.
The negotiations began on Wednesday morning in a one-to-one format.
Park said that the Russian president came to Seoul late last night and expressed hope that Putin's athletic training would help him get over the jet-lag.
Putin promised he "would try hard" and added that he had already had a brief meeting with businessmen before the negotiations.
Then the press left the negotiating room and the presidents spent several hours in a one-to-one format.
Delegations joined Putin and Park afterwards and the South Korean leader pointed to the fruitfulness of her discussion with the Russian leader.
"We decided to continue the discussion of issues, which we had not discussed in a narrow format because of the tight schedule, during the broader format consultations. It is time to dine so I propose that we continue our conversation at the table," Park said.
Putin accepted the proposal of the South Korean president.
"Certainly, we can continue to discuss the issues we have just considered in a narrow format in an informal atmosphere and even expand [the agenda]," Putin said.