[Breaking] President Yoon Returns Home After NATO Summit in Washington D.C., USA

by Seo Sojeong

Published 12 Jul.2024 06:20(KST)

Updated 12 Jul.2024 07:06(KST)

President Biden - President Yoon Suk-yeol Summit Meeting

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who visited Washington D.C., USA, completed all the schedules of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit on the 11th (local time) and headed back to Korea.

President Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon-hee arrived at Dallas Airport in Washington D.C. in the afternoon and boarded Air Force One bound for Seongnam Seoul Airport.

After a busy morning schedule including the Korea-U.S. summit, a meeting with the NATO Secretary General, the Indo-Pacific Four Partners (IP4) meeting, and bilateral talks with Norway, Poland, and Luxembourg, President Yoon attended the NATO Public Forum in the afternoon, becoming the first Korean president to speak as the sole speaker in the Indo-Pacific session. The previous day, he held bilateral talks with seven countries including the Czech Republic and Sweden and attended a social dinner hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and the First Lady.

Before visiting Washington D.C., President Yoon visited Honolulu, Hawaii, on the 8th and 9th, where he paid respects at the Pacific National Cemetery, a symbol of the Korea-U.S. alliance, and held a meeting with the Korean community. He also visited the United States Indo-Pacific Command, the largest and most militarily significant regional unified combatant command of the U.S. military, to reaffirm the Korea-U.S. alliance and joint defense posture.

This is the first visit by a South Korean president since the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command was renamed from the Pacific Command in May 2018. Former President Kim Young-sam visited the Pacific Command in 1995, and this is the first visit by a sitting president in 29 years.