Yoon makes surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Zelensky

Politics

Published: 15 Jul. 2023, 18:33 Updated: 15 Jul. 2023, 20:30

Yoon makes surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Zelensky

President Yoon Suk Yeol surveys damage from Russian missile attacks in Irpin near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol made a surprise trip to Kyiv, the capital of war-torn Ukraine, on Saturday, the presidential office said.

The visit was not part of the president's original European trip itinerary that included the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and a subsequent three-day trip to Poland.

After arriving in Ukraine, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee toured Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv where civilians were discovered killed en masse last year after the Russian army abandoned its positions near the Ukrainian capital.

They also visited Irpin, where civilian residential areas were repeatedly struck with missiles fired by invading Russian forces at the beginning of the war.

Yoon will later visit a memorial to pay his respects to Ukraine's war dead and hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Yoon's office said.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]