President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) and first lady Kim Keon Hee on Sept. 19 bow to well-wishers before boarding the presidential plane Code One at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province, bound for the Czech Republic. (Office of the President)

By Xu Aiying

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sept. 19 departed for the Czech Republic (Czechia) for an official visit with first lady Kim Keon Hee.

On the first day of their trip on Sept. 19, the presidential couple will attend an official welcoming ceremony hosted by Czech President Petr Pavel. The next day, Presidents Yoon and Pavel will hold individual and extended summits on boosting bilateral relations in a range of sectors. 

Their joint news conference will come right after their talks followed by an official dinner in the evening, with delegations and key figures in politics and business from both countries to participate.

On the morning of Sept. 20, President Yoon will attend a bilateral business forum with President Pavel and later inspect nuclear power plant facilities with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Afterward, President Yoon and the prime minister will attend a signing ceremony for memorandums of understanding to systemize bilateral cooperation in fields like nuclear power, trade, investment, cutting-edge technology and supply chains.

President Yoon will attend meetings with the speakers of the Czech Senate and Chamber of Deputies and host a dinner with ethnic Korean residents there before flying back to Korea on Sept. 21.

President Yoon is the first Korean leader in about nine years to visit the Eastern European country since Park Geun-hye in December 2015.

"Through this official visit to the Czech Republic, President Yoon will deliver to the country Team Korea's firm will to cooperate for the successful completion of the nuclear power plant project," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo on Sept. 12 told a briefing. "He will actively conduct sales diplomacy to ensure that Korean companies can win orders for nuclear plant projects."

xuaiy@korea.kr