Yoon set for slew of bilateral talks on sidelines of NATO summit

By Im Yoon-seo Posted : July 10, 2024, 17:10 Updated : July 10, 2024, 17:17
 
President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) and first lady Kim Keon Hee wave at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 9, 2024. Yonhap
SEOUL, July 10 (AJU PRESS) - President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to hold bilateral talks with heads of state from at least 10 countries on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington this week.

Yoon was invited to the summit for the third consecutive year as Korea was included as one of four Indo Pacific partners, dubbed IP4, along with Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

According to the presidential office on Tuesday, Yoon was initially planned to hold biliteral meetings with the leaders of the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, but he is now expected to sit down for talks with leaders from Canada, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands as well. Yoon is also likely to meet with the newly-elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who is about to make a debut on the international stage.

Yoon will leverage a series of bilateral meetings to raise concerns over North Korea's growing military ties with Russia, seeking support from NATO allies.

Yoon is also scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and attend a dinner hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday.
 
President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee lay wreaths at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 8, 2024, to honor veterans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War. Yonhap
Before heading to Washington, Yoon made a stopover in Hawaii. He visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific there with first lady Kim Keon Hee to pay their respects to fallen soldiers of the Korean War.

Yoon also met with Korean residents living on the island and visited the Indo-Pacific Command to reaffirm South Korea's alliance with the U.S. and reassure defense readiness.

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