President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) on the afternoon of May 10 shakes hands with Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and the leader of an American government delegation to Seoul, at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.
By Kang Gahui and Yoon Hee Young
Photos = Yonhap News
President Yoon Suk Yeol on his inauguration day on May 10 held talks with delegations from five nations including the U.S., China and Japan to launch the new administration's diplomacy.
The American, Chinese and Japanese delegations delivered personal letters from their respective heads of state to the new president.
After his inauguration ceremony, President Yoon in the afternoon returned to the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District to hold meetings with the delegations.
His first talks were at 1:30 p.m. with U.S. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, who arrived in Korea as the head of the U.S. delegation. Emhoff is a lawyer and the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
In the meeting, President Yoon called the 70-year Korea-U.S. bilateral alliance "the linchpin of peace and prosperity" in Northeast Asia, adding that among the many alliances of the U.S., the one with Korea is the most successful and exemplary.
Emhoff said U.S. President Joe Biden "greatly looked forward" to meeting his new Korean counterpart during his visit to Seoul next week and delivered a personal letter from President Biden.
Next for President Yoon was a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. The chief executive said he looked forward to jointly working on improving bilateral relations with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and hoped to meet him as soon as possible.
In his personal letter delivered by Minister Hayashi, Prime Minister Kishida said Seoul and Tokyo need prompt action to fundamentally solve bilateral issues, stressing the importance of removing obstacles between both sides and promoting improved relations.
In his talks with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, President Yoon said he received both a personal letter and congratulatory phone call from Chinese President Xi Jinping after the inauguration. President Yoon added that he was pleased over the vice president's attendance at the ceremony and "understands well" Beijing's intent to value Korea-China relations.
Vice President Wang quoted President Xi as saying he welcomes and invites President Yoon to make an official visit to China at a convenient time for both sides and proposed stronger cooperation in the development of bilateral relations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.
President Yoon also held meetings with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of the Government of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, and Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, both of whom arrived in Korea to attend the inauguration.
President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) on the afternoon of May 10 receives Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's personal letter congratulating the president's inauguration from Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.
President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) on the afternoon of May 10 takes a commemorative photo with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.
kgh89@korea.kr
