Pacific island leaders will meet South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Monday, their third summit in a week with a large economy as the region seeks stronger action on climate change as it becomes a focus of geopolitical power attention.
The Pacific islands span 40 million square kilometres of ocean between the United States and Asia, and Western allies have moved to boost their engagement amid concerns over China's security ambitions for the strategic waters and economic leverage among the small island states.
