President Lee Jae Myung embarks on six-day diplomatic trip to Japan, U.S.

President Lee Jae Myung, right, and first lady Kim Hea Kyung depart from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Aug. 23 for a six-day trip to Japan and the United States. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
President Lee Jae Myung departed on a six-day trip Saturday morning that will take him to Japan for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and the United States for a high-stakes first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.  
 
Lee, accompanied by first lady Kim Hea Kyung, departed from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, at 8:30 a.m. marking the couple’s second overseas trip since the president took office in early June. Through the back-to-back summits, Lee will put into practice his signature pragmatic diplomacy based on national interest to secure the best trade opportunities possible while safeguarding security amid rising tensions in the region and the growing U.S.-China rivalry.  
 
In Tokyo, Lee will hold a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo followed by a joint press briefing and dinner, continuing “shuttle diplomacy” from their first meeting at the Group of 7, or G7, summit in Canada in June. Lee will start the trip with a luncheon event with members of the Korean community in Tokyo.
 
On Sunday, Lee is scheduled to meet with members of the Japanese Diet. He will later head to the United States, where he will meet with the Korean diaspora in Washington in the evening.  
 

From left: Korean President Lee Jae Myung, U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

 
On Monday, Lee will attend a welcome ceremony and hold his first bilateral summit with Trump at the White House, followed by a luncheon. He will also attend a Korea-U.S. business roundtable and deliver a policy speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.  
 
He will later attend a dinner meeting with leaders from both countries to hear their views on advancing the alliance.  
 
On Tuesday, Lee will visit Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and then travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is expected to visit Philly Shipyard, owned by Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean.
 
Lee will be flanked by a business delegation and joined by the heads of Korea’s top four conglomerates in his trip to the United States.  
 
The Korea-U.S. summit came around after a trade deal in late July in which Korea committed to invest $350 billion in the United States. This deal set tariffs on Korean exports to the United States at 15 percent, lower than the expected 25 percent.
 
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac told reporters Friday that the modernization of the Korea-U.S. alliance will be on the agenda in the Trump-Lee summit as a means of ensuring strong joint defense posture and security. The summit will also be an occasion to build on trade and economic stability as well as to open up new areas of cooperation in sectors such as nuclear energy, shipbuilding, artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
 
Lee is expected to return to Seoul early Thursday.  
 
 

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]