Yoon to depart for six-day trip for NATO summit, Poland visit

President Yoon Suk Yeol will embark next Monday on a six-day trip to Lithuania for the NATO summit and Poland for an official visit, the presidential office said Thursday.

Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser, gives the details of President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Lithuania for the NATO summit and Poland next week in a press briefing at the Yongsan presidential office Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol will embark next Monday on a six-day trip to Lithuania for the NATO summit and Poland for an official visit, the presidential office said Thursday.

The war in Ukraine, cooperation between NATO and the Indo-Pacific region and emerging security threats will be high on the agenda during Yoon's discussions with leaders at the gathering in Vilnius, said Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser, in a press briefing at the Yongsan presidential office.

Yoon will visit Vilnius from Monday to Wednesday to attend the NATO summit for a second consecutive year and hold a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings with foreign leaders.

In June 2022, Yoon became the first Korean president to take part in a NATO summit after being invited to take part as a partner country in the gathering hosted in Madrid, Spain.

Yoon will likely hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of this year's summit.

The presidential office said Thursday that the two sides are coordinating the details of the summit, which come as the two sides resumed "shuttle diplomacy" earlier this year.

Japan's move to discharge treated wastewater from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is expected to be on the agenda if they meet, with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) earlier this week releasing a report that backs Japan's plan.

Yoon will have a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, he will attend a dinner banquet for NATO allies and partner countries hosted by the Lithuanian president.

Yoon is scheduled to hold a separate meeting with the leaders of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, or the Asia-Pacific Partners (AP4) countries, on Wednesday. Yoon will be moderator of the AP4 summit, which meets for the second time after Madrid last year.

Yoon is also expected to hold bilateral summits with the leaders of at least five countries, including the Netherlands, Norway and Lithuania, said his office.

"At the NATO summit, President Yoon will share Korea's contribution to peace in Ukraine, one of the most important issues of the international community, to concretely realize our global responsibility diplomacy," Kim said.

He added that Yoon will relay his vision on how to promote cooperation between Korea and NATO, as well as the AP4 partner countries and the North Atlantic alliance.

"We will strengthen cooperation with NATO, the world's largest military alliance, against North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats, and send a united warning message from the international community that its illegal activities will not be tolerated," Kim added.

South Korea and NATO are also expected to adopt new bilateral cooperation agreements in 11 areas, including non-proliferation, cyber security and emerging technologies.

Yoon will be accompanied by first lady Kim Keon-hee during the trip which will also take them on an official visit to Poland from Wednesday evening, local time, for a bilateral summit with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

An 89-member business delegation will accompany the president on the visit to Poland, according to the Federation of Korean Industries.

The delegation includes executives of 24 major conglomerates such as LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee. The rest include medium- and small-sized companies and economic organizations.

Major Korean arms companies taking part include Hyundai Rotem, which exports K2 Black Panther tanks to Poland, and Hanwha Aerospace, which supplies K9 self-propelled howitzers and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.

During the trip, Yoon is expected to meet with Korean residents in Warsaw and visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Yoon will attend an official welcome ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw on Thursday and hold a bilateral summit with Duda, followed by a joint press briefing.

On Friday, Yoon and Duda will attend a Korea-Poland business forum. Yoon will also meet with Polish political leaders and speak with students at the University of Warsaw.

This will mark the first visit by a Korean president to Poland in 14 years. Then-President Lee Myung-bak made a visit to Poland in 2009.

The two countries celebrate the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership this year. Poland extended an invitation to Yoon and first lady Kim to visit in June 2022.

Kim, the deputy national security adviser, said the expected outcomes from this visit include strengthening international security cooperation, expanding supply chain cooperation and advancing diplomacy to promote Busan's 2030 World Expo bid.

"Poland is Ukraine's closest neighbor and will become a hub for reconstruction projects in the future," Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said in a briefing about the trip, highlighting that Korea has signed the largest-ever defense export contract with Poland.

When asked if Yoon could make a visit to Ukraine, which is adjacent to Lithuania and Poland, and meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky during the trip, a presidential official told reporters that there is "no current plan for a separate visit to Ukraine or a summit."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]