President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee on June 27 bid farewell before boarding the presidential plane Code One at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province, to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Madrid, Spain. (Jeon Han)

President Yoon Suk Yeol on June 27 left on a five-day trip to Madrid, Spain, to attend from June 29-30 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit.

His plane in the afternoon left Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province.

The trip is President Yoon's first abroad since he assumed office on May 10 and the first time for a Korean leader to attend the NATO summit. Korea was invited as one of the alliance's four "Asia-Pacific partners" along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

President Yoon will hold 14 diplomatic meetings during his trip including nine bilateral summits, talks with NATO partners, NATO secretary general and Spanish king, a trilateral summit with the U.S. and Japan, and a luncheon with Spanish entrepreneurs.

The first summit on June 28 is with Finland, followed by those the next day with the Netherlands, Poland and Denmark and on June 30 with the Czech Republic and the U.K. 

The president will hold informal meetings with the European Union commissioner and the leaders of Canada and Romania. He will discuss economic issues including nuclear energy exports, semiconductors, the defense industry and renewable energy and also promote Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

In his summit with Washington and Tokyo, President Yoon on June 29 will discuss cooperation in North Korean issues in the first talks of its kind in four years and nine months.

He will give a three-minute speech at the NATO summit and assess Korea-NATO cooperation since the establishment of their global partnership in 2006. He will also discuss Seoul's role in international security and ask for global support for the North's denuclearization.

First lady Kim Keon Hee will accompany President Yoon on his trip.

She will attend with her husband a banquet hosted by the Spanish king and queen and a luncheon with ethnic Koreans in Spain. She will also take part in events for the spouses of leaders.

eykim86@korea.kr