Upon entering the venue, President Lee was greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron. When Macron extended his greetings, Lee responded, "I'm so happy," and the two leaders exchanged smiles, shook hands, and posed for a commemorative photo.
President Lee also participated in a group photo with leaders from G7 member countries and invited nations.
Notably, Lee engaged in a brief conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump for about 30 seconds. This marked their first face-to-face meeting since the APEC summit in Gyeongju last October.
This is President Lee's second attendance at a G7 summit as an invited country, following the meeting held in Canada last year.
Lee's first agenda item for the day was the first session of an expanded meeting focused on "Building New Partnerships and Rebuilding International Solidarity." Participating countries are expected to discuss various solutions to enhance development cooperation in response to the recent decline in international development aid.
In his speech during the expanded meeting, President Lee is likely to highlight that while the demand for development assistance from recipient countries is increasing, the public resources from donor countries are insufficient to meet this demand.
He plans to emphasize the need for new partnerships between donor countries, such as those in the G7, and recipient nations to address this issue.
The meeting will also address key topics such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the direction of future technological advancements. President Lee is expected to share the government's vision regarding the establishment of a global AI foundational society and a global AI hub, stressing that technological disparities among countries should not lead to economic inequalities.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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