Indonesian President Joko Widodo was treated to a welcoming ceremony at Changdeok Palace by President Moon Jae-in on Monday, a first for a foreign head of state. 

Moon said, "When I visited Bogor Palace [last year], President Widodo was very proud and I wanted to treat him to an even better place and chose Changdeok Palace."  

The two leaders then sat down for talks at Cheong Wa Dae and agreed to work to strengthen bilateral ties. "Around 3,000 Korean businesses are operating in Indonesia creating some 800,000 jobs and contributing to Indonesia's economic development," Moon told Widodo. "I hope we can hold broad and in-depth discussions on bilateral cooperation."

The Indonesian leader said, "I will make efforts so that bilateral relations can develop further and become stronger, while more concrete changes can take place."

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said the two discussed "broad cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, infrastructure, agriculture, health, defense and cultural exchanges."

Widodo also meets K-pop boy band Super Junior and staff from their management company, SM Entertainment. The Indonesian president attended two Super Junior concerts with his daughter in Jakarta.

Super Junior are enormously popular in Indonesia and performed at the closing ceremony of the Asian Games there last week. He also went shopping at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Monday evening with Moon. 

Earlier, Moon invited Widodo and his wife Iriana Widodo to Cheong Wa Dae to a state dinner with around 80 political, business and cultural figures.

Chicken soup with rice, the Indonesian president's favorite Korean dish, was served along with baekseolgi or steamed rice cakes, which Koreans traditionally share with friends and neighbors to celebrate a baby's birth, considering he recently had a granddaughter. 

Moon said in a toast, "I was warmly welcomed when I visited Indonesia last year and it makes me happy to be able to repay that gesture to some extent." 

Jokowi, as he is known at home, also visited an economic forum hosted by major business lobbies groups including the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he delivered a keynote speech.

He recalled that he attended the Indonesia-Korea Business Summit hosted by the Chosun Ilbo in Jakarta in March last year, where he was struck by the fact that consumers in the era of social media are interested in experience, adventure, memories and sharing .

He added the two countries are "at the center of the fourth industrial revolution, which includes AI, big data, drones, autonomous vehicles and 3D printers. The fourth industrial revolution is not restricted to wealthy countries. I expect developing countries to absorb it rapidly."

Separately he met with executives from CJ Group, Hyundai Motor, Lotte and POSCO to discuss possible cooperation.  

 

 

 

President Moon Jae-in and his wife (left) have tea with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his wife at Changdeok Palace in Seoul on Monday. /Yonhap

 

 

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (third from right) and his wife take a selfie with members of boy band Super Junior in Seoul on Monday.