President Yoon Suk Yeol (second from right) on June 27 chairs his 26th Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul. (Office of the President) 

By Park Hye Ri

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee from July 10-15 will visit Lithuania and Poland.

At the presidential office in Seoul, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo on the afternoon of July 6 released the itinerary of their six-day trip at a news briefing. 

From July 10-12, President Yoon will visit the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. This is the second time for a Korean leader to take part in the talks since he was invited by the security body to last year's event.

He will start his schedule related to the summit on July 11 with a consultation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

After holding summit talks with the leaders of five NATO member states including the Netherlands and Norway, President Yoon will attend a dinner hosted by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda for NATO allies and partner countries.

On the morning of July 12, President Yoon will hold a separate summit with the leaders of Asia-Pacific Four (AP4) member nations Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Later that day, he will attend the NATO summit to discuss the war in Ukraine, cooperation between NATO and the Indo-Pacific region, and new security threats with the leaders of 31 NATO allies, the European Union, Sweden and AP4 countries.

Korea and NATO will use this summit as an opportunity to adopt a new bilateral document on systemic cooperation in 11 sectors including nonproliferation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.

Adviser Kim said, "At the NATO Summit, President Yoon will share Korea's plans to contribute to peace in Ukraine, one of the most crucial issues of the international community, and specifically realize our global responsible diplomacy."

After leaving Lithuania, the president from July 12-15 will pay an official visit to Poland as the first Korean head of state in 14 years to do so since President Lee Myung-bak in 2009.

On the morning of July 13, President Yoon and the first lady will attend an official welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw, followed by the president's summit with Polish President Andrzej Duda and a joint news conference.

Both leaders will review bilateral cooperation over the last 10 years and discuss boosting their strategic partnership in sectors like economy, security and human exchange.

Later that day, President Yoon will hold individual talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Elzbieta Witek, chair of the lower house of the Polish parliament, and Tomasz Grodzki, chair of the upper house. The schedule for July 14 is the Korea-Poland Business Forum and a meeting with future generations at the University of Warsaw.

"As President Yoon's first bilateral visit to a European country since taking office, this visit will be an opportunity to deepen the partnership with Poland, a strategically important country in Eastern Europe and a gateway to Western Europe," Adviser Kim said.

hrhr@korea.kr