President Yoon to visit Lithuania for NATO summit meeting and Poland for state visit

[Yonhap News Photo]

SEOUL -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will depart for a six-day visit to two European nations -- Lithuania and Poland. After attending a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit meeting in Lithuania, the South Korean leader will move to Poland where he would discuss cooperation methods in defense and nuclear power sectors with Polish President Andrzej Duda.  
 
According to the presidential office, Yoon and First Lady Kim Geon-hee will depart for Lithuania on July 10 to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit for two days starting on July 11. The presidential office said that Yoon will promote the hosting of the World Expo 2030 in South Korea's southern port city of Busan, and work with other leaders to strengthen international security cooperation and expand supply chain collaboration. A total of 31 leaders would attend this year's summit in Vilnius. 
 
During the summit schedule, Yoon will participate in bilateral discussions with 10 leaders from Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Hungary, Romania, Sweden, Estonia, Slovakia, Finland, and Lithuania. The president will also meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. Yoon and Kishida reached a consensus in May 2023 to send South Korean experts to carry out an inspection project to handle the contaminated water issue in Fukushima, the zero ground of Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster.
 
Yoon will head to Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on July 12 for a state visit. The presidential office said he would discuss methods with the Polish leader to strengthen cooperation in defense and nuclear energy fields, and reconstruction projects in Ukraine. Poland has earlier signed basic deals with South Korea to acquire FA-50 light attack fighters, K2 tanks, and K9 self-propelled howitzers.
 
On July 14, Yoon will attend a business forum that would involve 89 South Korean business experts including LG Group's Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Kim Dong-kwan, the Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group. The president will return to his home country after interacting with Polish students at the University of Warsaw.