President Lee Jae-myung will hold a summit with East Timor's President José Ramos-Horta on November 6. Horta is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, having received the award in 1996. He officially visited Korea at the invitation of President Lee the previous day.
According to the Blue House, the two leaders will participate in a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding (MOU), an expanded meeting over lunch, and a joint press conference. They are expected to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in areas such as diplomacy and security, intellectual property, climate change, education, and human exchanges, as well as major international issues.
The two countries established diplomatic relations in 2002 and are approaching the 25th anniversary of their ties next year. This visit marks the first official bilateral visit to Korea by an East Timorese leader.
Earlier, President Lee welcomed Horta's visit on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "The Republic of Korea and East Timor have built a long-standing friendship based on shared values of peace and democracy." He added, "It is meaningful to host President Horta, who has dedicated his life to peace and democracy and received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts."
Lee expressed hope for closer cooperation in regional peace and prosperity, especially following East Timor's accession to ASEAN last year. He emphasized that this meeting, ahead of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, should serve as a valuable opportunity to deepen the special friendship between the two nations into greater future cooperation.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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