President Park Geun-hye had a very busy diplomatic schedule in the middle of November starting with the APEC Summit in Beijing Nov. 11-13, the ASEAN+Three Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar Nov. 13-14 and the G-20 Meeting in Brisbane, Australia Nov. 15-16.

In Beijing, the president witnessed the final conclusion and signing of the Free Trade Agreement with China shaking hands with President Xi Jinping of China to congratulate each other on the sidelines of the international gathering. The FTA deal dragged on for 30 months to be concluded including  the final touches on the details of the trade deal which is hoped to bring the two neighboring countries ever closer.

The signing of the agreed minutes on the free trade deal took place in the presence of the two leaders, said An Chong-bum, Park’s senior aide on economic affairs.

“The South Korea-China FTA is the most significant economic deal since their establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992,” An told reporters. “It will provide an occasion to drastically develop bilateral economic ties,” he added. The deal is South Korea’s 13th free trade pact. China, the world’s second-largest economy with a population of 1.3 billion, is South Korea’s largest trading partner.

The two sides will engage in technical consultation within this year, complete a draft of the agreement and hold a legal review before formally signing the agreement early next year, Cheong Wa Dae said. Both governments need to obtain parliamentary approval before it takes effect. 

During the meeting, the two leaders also agreed to join hands in the  efforts to force North Korea to give up its nuclear program and to resume the long-stalled talks on  Pyongyang to give up its nuke weapons development programs, said Ju Chul-ki, senior Presidential secretary on foreign affairs.

Xi also expressed strong opposition to North Korea’s nuclear weapons development programs and reiterated that Beijing, Pyongyang’s traditional ally, fully complies with the United Nations Security Council’s resolution on N. Korea, the official said.

The leaders also agreed on the need to hold a  foreign ministers’ meeting between South Korea, China and Japan within this year to seek the ways to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Park arrived in Beijing on Nov. 9 to attend the annual meeting of leaders from 21 Pacific Rim countries.

Leaders of South Korea and the United States on Nov. 11 reaffirmed their commitment to dealing with North Korean provocations and diffusing its nuclear ambitions, amid growing speculation over Pyongyang’s motives for recently releasing two Americans.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing, which the two leaders took part in.

“Park and Obama shared the need for the global community to take an united action toward North Korea’s nuclear program and to make joint efforts for the denuclearization of North Korea,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said.

The U.S. president thanked South Korea for its efforts in fighting the Ebola virus and also exchanged views on the need to bolster trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. for peace and stability in the region. President Park Geun-hye voiced optimism Nov. 13 about the possibility of meeting with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts, a move that could signal a thaw in Seoul and Beijing’s strained ties with Tokyo.  Park said she wants to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following a meeting of their foreign ministers in the near future.

 Still, she did not give any specific time frame for the proposed summit.

South Korea, China and Japan have held an annual trilateral summit since 1999 on the sidelines of regional summits organized by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. 

Since 2008, the Northeast Asian countries have also held a regular summit on a rotating basis, with their last meeting held in Beijing in May 2012.

Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Myanmar on Nov. 12 for annual summits with Asian and other regional partners to discuss a wide-range of issues and bolster cooperation with one of the world's fastest-growing regions.

Park held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  hours after touching down in Myanmar's capital.

It was Park's first meeting with Modi since May when he took power in the world's largest democracy and second most populous country.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the success of India's space agency in placing a probe in orbit around Mars in September, the first such achievement by an Asian country.

The East Asia Summit is an 18-nation forum grouping the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus its eight dialogue partners -- South Korea, China, Japan, the U.S., Russia, Australia, India and New Zealand.

President Park flew to Brisbane, Australia, from Myanmar to attend the G-20 Meeting on Nov. 15.

Under pressure to jolt the stubbornly lethargic world economy back to life, leaders of G20 nations on Nov. 16 finalized a plan to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years by investing in infrastructure and increasing trade. The fanfare, however, was overshadowed by tensions between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Western leaders.

The communique from the summit of Group of 20 wealthy and emerging economies chaired by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot, also revealed that the plan for jumpstarting growth includes the creation of a global infrastructure hub that would help match potential investors with projects. They also aim to reduce the gap between male and female participation in the workforce by 25 percent by 2025.