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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (right) and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, wave goodbye before boarding the presidential plane to depart on June 27 for the NATO summit in Spain. (presidential office pool photo)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol headed to Madrid on Monday in order to attend the NATO summit scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. During his first trip overseas since his inauguration on May 10, Yoon will officially make his debut in multilateral diplomacy.

Yoon arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on Monday afternoon with first lady Kim Keon-hee, where they boarded Code One. From the presidential office, National Security Office Director Kim Sung-han, Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki, and Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Lee Jin-bok — all of whom will be remaining in Seoul in case of North Korean provocations — came down to the airstrip to send Yoon off, while ruling party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong came to the airport to personally see the president off.

Yoon is the first South Korean president to attend a summit of NATO, one of the most well-known military alliances of the West. During his trip of five days and three nights, Yoon will be participating in a total of 14 diplomatic engagements, including the South Korea-US-Japan summit scheduled for Wednesday and the summit among NATO member states and partners. Through his activities, he plans to strengthen South Korea’s relationship with European nations, who are major trade partners for South Korea, and rally interest in and support for the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The upcoming NATO summit has been of special interest due to the fact that it’s occurring amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the hegemonic conflict between the US and China. During the summit, NATO will be adopting a new “strategic concept,” which will include considerations about how to respond to China, suggesting that South Korea’s diplomacy will be put to the test amidst the new Cold War between the US and China.

Yoon arrived in Spain Monday night. After a night of rest, he will officially begin his schedule Tuesday afternoon, when he will be attending a bilateral conference between South Korea and Finland. Afterward, Yoon will be meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and attend a dinner gala hosted by Spain’s King Felipe VI with Kim Keon-hee.

Yoon will be participating in bilateral conferences with major European countries until Thursday, where he will be trying his hand at nuclear power and energy sales with economic security as the main subject of discussions.

As all state leaders participating in the NATO summit will be attending Tuesday’s gala dinner, there’s a chance Yoon may have his first encounter with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida there.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]