This weekend's G-20 summit in Toronto, with a slew of thorny topics sidelined, was a warm-up event for South Korea's preparations to host the next session in November that may decide
the fate of the new premier forum for international economic cooperation, officials and analysts said Sunday.
The end of the two-day Toronto gathering means the start of Seoul's full-fledged preparations to greet the leaders of the world's powerhouses.
South Korean government officials said the G-20 members produced some agreements in Toronto, such as reduction in deficits, but relegated leftover homework to the Seoul forum.
"In a sense, the Canada summit was a preparatory meeting for the Seoul summit in both format and contents," Sakong Il, chairman of the Presidential Committee for the G-20 Summit, told reporters.
The G-20 members set their top goal of "strong, sustainable and balanced growth," and Seoul will be the stage for producing tangible fruits, he added.
Overshadowed by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, world leaders put controversial proposals of bank taxes, readjustments of IMF quotas, and the so-called exit strategies on the back burner.
"For South Korea, the November summit is a high-return and high-risk event," Sakong said, referring to chances of either producing significant deals or failing to do so.
The Toronto session showed the difficulty of a "perfect agreement" by nations with different interests and circumstances.
Major players are split over the balance between growth and belt-tightening when there is still fear of a double-dip recession.
The U.S. has called for the main economies to continue stimulus spending in an effort to maintain recovery, but European members, spooked by the Greek debt crisis, demanded a speedy shift to government belt-tightening measures.
They reached a compromise to at least halve their deficits by 2013 but left the door open for flexibility in implementing the non-biding deal.
"Depending on the angle of view, you may see it as an imperfect agreement," Sakong said.
The G-20, launched in 2008 to counter a financial crisis, is credited with having prevented the world from plunging into financial and economic depression. The leaders demonstrated remarkable unity at three previous summits in Washington, London and Pittsburgh.
Skeptics point to a general tendency where cooperation becomes difficult when situations improve. The G-20 has already lost steam and its future is up for question, they say, and the Seoul summit will be a watershed.
"The fate of the G-20 is at a crossroads," Lee Dong-hwi, senior researcher for the Institute of Foreign Affairs and Security, a South Korean
think tank, said. "That is why the November summit in Seoul is crucial."
It also presents a test for South Korea regarding whether it can actually become a leading country in the international community, he added.
South Korea hopes to play a bridging role between advanced and developing nations, taking advantage of its experience of transition from aid recipient to donor.
President Lee Myung-bak formally proposed that development issues be discussed in the Seoul session, along with his offer to set up global
financial safety nets aimed at minimizing the impact on emerging countries from sudden capital flows.