President Lee Jae Myung (second from right) on June 19 is greeted by Kim Byung-kee, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, and other well-wishers after arriving at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Kang Gahui

President Lee Jae Myung on June 19 returned home after attending the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Canada.

He and first lady Kim Hea Kyung arrived that day at 1:06 a.m. at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province.

Earlier on June 16, President Lee opened his summit diplomacy through bilateral talks with South Africa and Australia. The next day, he attended an extended session of G7 member states and invited countries, followed by a series of meetings with the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, India, the U.K., Japan and Canada.

In talks with the heads and representatives of global organizations like NATO, the United Nations and European Union, he expressed his intent to conduct international cooperation.

In the extended session, he spoke twice on energy security to stress the importance of diversifying energy supply chains and linking artificial intelligence and energy.

His planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, however, was canceled after the latter abruptly returned to Washington citing escalating tension in the Middle East.

The presidential office in Seoul said it would push to hold the meeting as quickly as possible.

"President Lee's attendance at the G7 Summit was his international stage debut to inform the world of the Republic of Korea's recovery of democracy and inauguration of a new government," it added. "This opportunity was to show the world the return of a democratic Republic of Korea and a starting point for resuming summit diplomacy, which had been halted for six months."

kgh89@korea.kr