Despite South Korea's firm intention, however, the meeting seems to face numerous difficulties.

US Treasury Secretary Geithner, before the meeting, sent letters to the participants, suggesting they drop the amount of trade surplus and deficit according to the country's GDP size.

The letter is hinting at the firm message of the US that China should reduce its trade surplus, which is linked with currency appreciation.Against the strong move by the United States. , China did not respond yet.

On the other hand, following the long-lasted session, the leaders gathered for a dinner meeting where they were expected to share views on the issue in a more casual mode.

Wrapping up the first day's schedule, the participants will meet again Saturday for more in-depth talks, where the currency talks will likely to continue.

The leaders are also scheduled to have sessions of the IMF reform and Global Financial Safety Nets (GFSN), the Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth, Financial Regulatory Reform and other issues.

The IMF quota reform is another hot item at the meeting, on which advanced and emerging economies' views still stay in stark contrast.

Media is also paying attention to whether leaders could make progress in terms of the Framework, where countries are having trouble to balance and coordinate country-level needs.

The event will close with a press conference by the chair, where South Korean finance minister will announce a joint communiqu, based on which will be finalized the agenda of the Seoul Summit.

Amid media attention fixed on the outcome of the meeting, the question revolves around whether the communiqu will contain an explicit statement pertaining to currency, which will directly determine whether the meeting was a success.

While it seems highly improbable to completely remove the currency differences among countries, South Korean officials are still hoping the meeting can end up with at least a general-level agreement.

(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2010)