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President Yoon Suk-yeol responds to questions from the press on June 9 as he enters the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul. (presidential office pool photo)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will be attending the NATO summit slated to be held in Madrid, Spain, on June 29-30. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could also attend the summit, raising the possibility of a separate summit between the two leaders.

A senior official in the presidential office said Friday that Yoon would take part in the NATO summit, where he will attend a session of heads of state and government from NATO member countries and key partners.

The biggest question is whether Yoon and Kishida will hold a summit of their own. NATO has invited leaders from four nonmember states in the Asia-Pacific region — Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — to attend the summit.

If Kishida attends the NATO event, it’s very possible that a Korea-Japan summit will take place in Spain.

The two countries have been at odds over Japan’s tightened export controls and a Korean court decision awarding damages to Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. Their last summit was between former Korean president Moon Jae-in and former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of a Korea-Japan-China summit in Qingdao, China, in December 2019.

There has also been talk of a trilateral summit between Korea, Japan and the US. Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Foreign Minister Park Jin will visit the US from June 12 to June 15, during which time he will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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