The 2010 G20 Seoul Summit was the fifth meeting of the

G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

heads of government/heads of state, to discuss the

global financial system The global financial system is the worldwide framework of legal agreements, institutions, and both formal and informal agent (economics), economic action that together facilitate international flows of financial capital for purposes of investme ...

and the

world economy The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans in the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities conducted both within and between nations, including production (economics), producti ...

,Cho Jin-seo
"Seoul unveils G20 summit's symbol,"
''Korea Times'' (ROK). July 8, 2010; retrieved Nov 10, 2010. which took place in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, the capital of South Korea. South Korea was the first non- G8 nation to host a G20 leaders' summit. The G20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning, and monitoring international economic cooperation. The theme of the summit was "Shared Growth Beyond Crisis".

Agenda

The summit leaders addressed several mid- and long-term policy issues, including * Ensuring global economic recoveryG20 Seoul summit
Agenda
/ref> * Framework for strong, sustainable, and balanced global growth * Strengthening the international financial regulatory system * Modernizing the

international financial institutions An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, alt ...

* Global financial safety netsG20 Seoul summit
New agenda and initiatives
* Development issues * The risk of a

currency war Currency war, also known as competitive devaluations, is a condition in international relations, international affairs where countries seek to gain a trade advantage over other countries by causing the exchange rate of their currency to fall in r ...

Representatives met in advance of the leaders' summit. These

sherpas The Sherpa people () are one of the Nepalese ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, India, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. The majority of Sherpas live in the eastern regions of Nepal, namely the Solukhum ...

were tasked to draft a closing statement for the summit. The debate over currency

exchange rates In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

and imbalances was reported to have been "heated".

Preparations

The summit logo incorporated two images: the sun rising over the sea and a traditional Korean lantern ('' cheongsachorong''). Originally, three new

artificial islands An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of hum ...

built on the Han River between the

Banpo Banpo is a Neolithic archaeological site located in the Yellow River valley, east of present-day Xi'an, China. Discovered in 1953 by Shi Xingbang, the site represents the first phase of the Yangshao culture () and features the remains of sever ...

and Dongjak bridges were going to be used as the main venue.Kang Shin-who
"Seoul to Host G20 Summit on 'Floating Islands' on Han River,"
''Korea Times'' (ROK). January 10, 2010; retrieved Nov 10, 2010. However, delayed construction of the islands led for the main summit venue to relocate to

COEX Convention & Exhibition Center COEX () is a convention and exhibition center located in Samseong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea. COEX is a portmanteau of 'COvention' and 'EXhibition'. COEX is serviced by Samseong station on line 2 and Bongeunsa station on l ...

. The

Republic of Korea Armed Forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

and

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA; ) is the primary police force for the South Korean capital city of Seoul. The agency is not an independent police force in of itself, but is one of 16 provincial sub-divisions of the National Police Age ...

provided security for the venues. A group of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n artists, consisting of Gyu-ri, Seohyun,

Jun. K Kim Min-jun (; born January 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Jun. K, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, dancer and actor. He is the main vocalist of 2PM. Formerly known as Kim Jun-su (), he revealed on Octo ...

Changmin Shim Chang-min (; born February 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Max Changmin (), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, and a member of the pop duo TVXQ. Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Changmin was scouted by an SM Ente ...

, Jaekyung, Jonghyun, Sungmin, Kahi,

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

, Ji Eun, Junhyung, Gayoon, Min, G.O, Bumkey, G.NA, Son Dam-bi, Seo In-guk, IU, and Anna, credited as ''Group of 20'' recorded a song titled "Let's Go" for the summit.

Transportation

Most world leaders and international media arrived via

Incheon International Airport Incheon International Airport is the main international airport serving Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It is also one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. This airport opened for business on 29 March 2001, to replace the old ...

and traveled to the summit venue via motorcades along the highway from the airport. Transportation around the summit venue was upgraded with electric buses to help media and others around the city.

Attendance

The participants of the Seoul summit included the leaders and representatives of core members of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, which is represented by its two governing bodies, the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. Representatives from other countries and regional organizations were invited to take part in the summit. The South Korean government declined to invite the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, which had been invited to attend all four previous G20 summits. A Korean spokesman said that "a certain region had been over-represented" in the past; and for this Asian summit,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

was invited.Cho Jin-se
Five non-G20 nations invited to Seoul Summit
'' Korea Times'' (ROK). September 24, 2010; retrieved Nov 10, 2010 This was the first summit at which there were four women among the leaders. In addition to President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and the president-elect of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...

, accompanied her nation's delegation. This was the first G20 summit for Australia's Prime Minister Gillard, who had only been elected shortly before the Toronto summit. This was also the first opportunity for Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

to listen and to make his voice heard at the G20 leaders' meetings.

Security

Security for the G20 summit presented a unique array of problems. In addition to the security of the main venue, COEX, South Korea was more broadly responsible for providing a safe venue for the delegations who come to the summit. The

National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: National Revolut ...

led the security detail for the summit, both at the convention venue and the airport as well. Other police and security agencies involved were: * Presidential Security Service * National Intelligence Service *

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

* National Emergency Management Agency G20 protests Seoul - VOA - police

G20 protests Seoul - VOA - labor protesters

In preparation, anti-terrorism drills were held by members of the South Korean police, military, special forces and private sector as part of the 2010

Ulchi-Freedom Guardian Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (을지 프리덤 가디언, Eulji peurideom gadieon) is the name () of the military exercise previously known as Ulchi-Focus Lens, a combined military exercise between South Korea and the United States. The exercise is the w ...

exercises against simulated hostage situations and chemical, biological and radiological attacks as a preparation for the summit. Plans for accommodating peaceful protesters were paired with plans for mitigating disruptive demonstrations. The G20 raised security concerns unrelated to demonstrators protesting the presence of the leaders of 20 economies in Seoul. For example, some analysts projected that anything perceived as a success for South Korea would be simultaneously construed in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

as a threat to North Korea. Despite public endorsements by attending leaders, most commentators looking back on the summit have argued that only limited progress was made, especially on the headline issue of currency war and addressing trade imbalances. Leaders were generally unable to agree on key issues, with commentators such as economist Eswar Prasad noting the absence of the sense of unity that had been present at summits during the worse of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. IMF managing director

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...

said this particular summit was "more of a G20 debate than a G20 conclusion". Relating to the need to rebalance the world economy, agreement had been reached to work on indicative guidelines which will set suggested maximum limits for current account surpluses and deficits, though these are not due to be fleshed out until 2011. G20 leaders also agreed to endorse the Seoul Development Consensus, a set of guidelines and principles for working together with less development nations to improve economic growth and reduce poverty. In contrast to the older

Washington Consensus The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered in the 1980s and 1990s to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for Economic crisis, crisis-wracked developing country, developing countries by the Was ...

which it supersedes, the Seoul Consensus is less free market–orientated, allowing a larger role for state intervention.

References

External links

G20 Information CentreG-20 website of the OECD

Graphic: G20 is not simply the 20 largest economies

Official website

2010 Seoul G20 Tour

Report by the ''Club of Madrid'' focussing on the G20s role in the post-crises world

Supplementary annex doc G20 issued for the Seoul Development Consensus

{{DEFAULTSORT:G20 summit,2010

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2010 conferences 2010 in economic history 2010 in South Korea Diplomatic conferences in South Korea 21st-century diplomatic conferences 2010s in Seoul November 2010 in South Korea