Lee set to depart for New York to attend U.N. General Assembly

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung is set to embark on a five-day trip to New York on Monday to attend the U.N. General Assembly and hold a series of meetings with global leaders and investors.

It will be Lee's first attendance at the annual U.N. gathering since taking office in June and comes as South Korea assumes the rotating chairmanship of the U.N. Security Council this month as a non-permanent member.

During the trip, Lee will deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, during which he will declare "democratic Korea" has returned after months of political turmoil under former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid and will outline his government's foreign policy agenda.

As chair of the 15-member Security Council, Lee will preside over an open debate on artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for global peace and security Wednesday. It would mark the first time a South Korean president has led such a session.

Lee will also engage in economic diplomacy during his trip as part of efforts to draw fresh capital inflows to South Korea.

He plans to meet with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Monday to discuss AI and energy transformation, and to host an investor relations session Thursday to explain his government's economic policy.

On the sidelines, Lee is scheduled to meet U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and hold a series of bilateral talks with the leaders of France, Italy, Uzbekistan, the Czech Republic and Poland.

A one-on-one meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump is not planned, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said, though the two leaders could meet informally during the gathering.

Seoul and Washington are still negotiating to finalize a July trade deal that would reduce U.S. tariffs on South Korean goods from 25 percent to 15 percent in exchange for $350 billion in investment.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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