President Lee Jae Myung (right) and first lady Kim Hea Kyung on Sept. 22 say bye to well-wishers before departing for New York at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Seon Ah

President Lee Jae Myung on Sept. 22 departed on a five-day visit to New York to attend the 80th United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly.

After arriving in the Big Apple, he will begin his schedule there by holding meetings with Larry Fink, CEO of the world's largest asset management agencies BlackRock, and members of the U.S. Congress.

The next day, President Lee will announce in his keynote speech to the General Assembly the restoration of "a democratic Republic of Korea" and release his administration's foreign policy vision including its approach toward the Korean Peninsula.

On Sept. 24, he will become the first Korean head of state to chair an open debate at the U.N. Security Council. The next day, he will host an investment summit for influential figures from Wall Street and Korean industry.

President Lee will also attend a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and bilateral talks with the leaders of France, Italy, Uzbekistan, the Czech Republic and Poland.

sofiakim218@korea.kr