SEOUL, Nov 11 — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol left for Cambodia on Friday on the first leg of a two-nation tour that will include his attendance at various summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Group of 20 (G-20), Yonhap news agency reported.
In Phnom Penh, Yoon is scheduled to attend a South Korea-Asean summit, an Asean Plus Three summit and the East Asia Summit during a three-day stay, with other bilateral and multilateral meetings expected to take place on the sidelines.
Earlier, Yoon told reporters he will hold a trilateral summit with United States President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during the trip, the second of its kind following one on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Spain in June.
A presidential official said a bilateral meeting with Biden was also fixed, while no decision had been made on one with Kishida.
Shortly before heading to Cambodia, Yoon pledged in a Facebook post to “do my best to meet the expectations of the people, and produce practical achievements to support our national interests and economic growth.”
“I will put in all efforts to look for ways of cooperation in high value-added industries and digital sectors,” Yoon said, noting Asean is closely tied with South Korea’s economy as the nation’s No. 2 trading partner.
Yoon’s first trip to Southeast Asia as president has also drawn attention because it sets the stage for his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, likely during the G-20 summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on November 15 and 16.
A presidential official said the two are expected to meet “naturally” during the course of the events but that nothing had been predetermined in terms of the format.
Asean, which comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is the fifth-largest economic bloc in the world and South Korea’s second-biggest trading partner.
The region is strategically important, as it is emerging as a global production hub, is rich in critical minerals and raw materials, and boasts a large consumer market, according to officials.
The president and first lady are scheduled to return to Seoul early Wednesday (November 16).
— Bernama
