Netherlands rolls out red carpet for President Yoon on historic state visit

President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first Korean leader to make a state visit to the Netherlands, welcomed by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima Tuesday in a trip expected to help cement the two countries' chips alliance.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, left, take part in a welcome ceremony at Dam Square, Amsterdam, during the Korean leader’s five-day state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first Korean leader to make a state visit to the Netherlands, welcomed by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima Tuesday in a trip expected to help cement the two countries' chips alliance.

After arriving on Monday for a five-day trip, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee were received in an official welcome ceremony by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima in Dam Square in Amsterdam. The leaders inspected the guard of honor, and the Royal Netherlands Navy's marine band played the two countries' anthems.

The presidential couple was scheduled to lay a wreath at a national monument in Dam Square dedicated to World War II victims and hold a private luncheon with the king and queen. They were set to attend a state dinner at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam in the evening.

Yoon was also scheduled to visit leading Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML's global headquarters in Veldhoven on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by King Willem-Alexander, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. They will be greeted by ASML Chief Executive Peter Wennink.

This visit to ASML, highlighting Korean-Dutch cooperation on innovation and the development of the semiconductor industry, is especially significant as the Dutch multinational corporation provides advanced chip manufacturing equipment to Korea's biggest chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. ASML's lithography machine based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) is needed to produce high-performing processors that power high-end smartphones and supercomputers.

Yoon will become the first foreign leader to tour a "cleanroom" facility at ASML.

This visit will provide an opportunity to "strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the chips supply chain and their complementary semiconductor industries," said Kim Soo-kyung, the presidential spokesperson, in a briefing Monday in Amsterdam.

The state events will further be an opportunity for Yoon to "express his expectations for the development of the relationship between the two countries as optimal partners in future industries such as semiconductors, nuclear energy and digital technology," said Kim.

"This trip can be called a 'chips tour,'" Park Chun-sup, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said in the briefing Monday in Amsterdam. "Not only artificial intelligence (AI), quantum and biotechnology, but even advanced weapons are determined by semiconductor performance."

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, right, accompanied by first lady Kim Keon Hee and Queen Maxima, take part in an official welcome ceremony at Dam Square, Amsterdam, during the Korean leader’s five-day state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The two countries concluded a strategic partnership agreement during Dutch Prime Minister Rutte's visit to Seoul for a summit with Yoon in November 2022.

Yoon's trip comes upon the invitation of King Willem-Alexander, making this the first state visit to the Netherlands by a Korean president since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1961.

On Monday, the Korean presidential jet arrived in the Netherlands escorted by two Dutch Air Force F-35 fighter jets, according to Yoon's office. The presidential couple received a red carpet welcome at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, greeted by a Dutch honor guard. They were later accompanied by a motorcade with 17 motorcycles.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left and first lady Kim Keon Hee are greeted by children in hanbok during a dinner meeting with Korean nationals at a hotel in Amsterdam Monday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Later Monday evening, Yoon met with some 100 Korean residents in the Netherlands and promised to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a "semiconductor alliance."

"Semiconductors are an important field not only for our industries but also for our security," Yoon said in a hotel in Amsterdam. "Through this visit, semiconductor cooperation between Korea and the Netherlands will now be upgraded to a semiconductor alliance."

He said many agreements and memorandums (MOUs) would be signed during the visit, which would "further deepen" the Korea-Netherlands relationship.

"The relationship between Korea and the Netherlands is expanding its horizons in various fields, from strategic areas such as national defense and security to economy, culture, cutting-edge science and technology and education," Yoon said.

He recounted that the Netherlands sent more than 5,000 troops to fight alongside South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Yoon highlighted that there is now a Korean community of over 10,000 people in the Netherlands, active in various fields such as economy, science and culture, who "serve as a bridge connecting the two countries."

Yoon noted that last year, bilateral trade reached an all-time high of $16 billion and that this visit will discuss expanding the horizon of economic cooperation to cutting-edge technology, nuclear power plants and new and renewable energy.

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