NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 President Park′s overseas trip: FTA conclusions to security diplomacy

NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 Coming up on this Monday edition of Newsline at Noon,... President Park returns home from her trip to Asia and Australia after agreeing with world leaders to boost economic growth and give Korean exports tariff-free access to more countries. U.S. President Barack Obama condemns the beheading of the third American hostage by Islamic State militants, calling it "an act of pure evil." Plus,... foreign investors will have greater access to Chinese shares as a trading link goes live today to let investors in the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses trade shares listed on each other′s markets. These stories and more on Newsline at Noon. It′s noon, Monday, November 17th... here in Korea... Thanks for tuning in. Live from Seoul... I′m Eoh Jin-joo. Good to have you with us,.... I′m Mark Broome. Title: President Park′s overseas trip: FTA conclusions to security diplomacy Our top story this afternoon... President Park Geun-hye is back on Korean soil after returning from a nine-day trip that took her to China, Myanmar and Australia. Along the way, she attended three global forums,... held six bilateral summits... and announced the conclusion of free trade negotiations with two countries. Our presidential office correspondent Choi You-sun has more on the president′s achievements. Following a two-and-a-half-year tug-of-war, President Park Geun-hye, meeting her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the APEC Beijing Summit, announced the conclusion of Korea-China FTA negotiations. "I expect the Korea-China FTA to be welcome news for the global economy, in the midst of a delayed recovery and prolonged low growth." By finalizing a free trade deal with its biggest trading partner, Korea hopes to reduce 5-point-4 billion U.S. dollars in annual tariffs and to accelerate entry into China′s consumer goods and domestic markets. Another long-awaited deal, Korea′s FTA with New Zealand was finalized and announced by the two countries′ leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Brisbane Summit. Korea has secured a greater voice in multilateral trade talks, having concluded FTAs with 10 out of the 12 countries participating in the U.S.-led free trade network, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and 16 of 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members. On the diplomatic front, President Park maintained a balance in relations with Korea′s key partnering nations,... talking about ways to boost cooperation on the North Korean nuclear issue with both of the G2 leaders. She also sought ways to thaw relations with Tokyo,... agreeing with her Japanese counterpart to move forward on talks over resolving Japan′s wartime sex slavery of Korean women and expressing hopes for a trilateral leaders′ summit with China and Japan. "I believe bolstering actual cooperation is the best way to contribute to regional peace and prosperity." And lastly at the G20 Summit, the Korean leader′s growth strategy by way of social reforms, deregulat