President Moon Arrives in Australia... Discusses 'Core Resource Supply Chain Cooperation'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] President Moon Jae-in arrived in Canberra, the capital of Australia, on the afternoon of the 12th (local time). He begins a 3-night, 4-day state visit to Australia.

This is the first state visit to Australia by a Korean head of state in 12 years, since 2009. The Australian government invited President Moon as the first foreign leader since the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 13th, President Moon will hold a summit meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and jointly hold a press conference. Discussions are expected on cooperation in COVID-19 response as well as supply chain collaboration concerning key resources Australia possesses, such as rare earth elements and lithium.

The Blue House stated, "As seen in the recent urea solution incident, it is important to diversify import sources for key items," and emphasized, "This will be an opportunity to stabilize the supply chains of raw materials and critical minerals."

Afterwards, President Moon will visit the War Memorial to lay a wreath at the Korean War participation monument and have dinner with Korean War veterans.

On the 14th, he will move to Sydney to meet with Anthony Albanese, leader of Australia’s opposition Labor Party, and hold a meeting with Australian businesspeople focusing on cooperation to establish a stable supply chain of critical minerals. President Moon is scheduled to return home on the 15th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.