President Yoon begins state visit to Netherlands with chips on his mind

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President Yoon begins state visit to Netherlands with chips on his mind

Published: 11 Dec. 2023, 18:55

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and first lady Kim Keon Hee wave farewell aboard the presidential plane at Seoul Air Base before departing for their state visit to the Netherlands on Monday, marking Korea's first state visit to the European country since the two established diplomatic relations in 1961. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol began his state visit to the Netherlands on Monday with executives of Korea’s biggest chipmakers, Samsung and SK, to strengthen semiconductor cooperation.

Greeted by People Power Party leader Kim Gi-hyeon, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin and the deputy head of mission of the Netherlands Embassy in Korea at Seoul Air Base, Yoon boarded the plane to the Netherlands at around 11 a.m. on Monday with First Lady Kim Keon Hee.

Yoon was sporting an orange tie — the color of the Dutch royal family — and Kim a gray blazer over a black outfit.

Korea‘s first state visit to the Netherlands since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1961 will focus on semiconductors. Yoon will be the first foreign head of state to visit the cleanroom of ASML, a leading Dutch semiconductor equipment maker.

But several sources in the presidential office said the president was taking leave amid turmoil in local politics with the recent expo bid failure and mounting criticism against Yoon’s closest aides jumping into the general election to run in districts already favorable to conservatives.

“The president is indeed frustrated with the political situation at home,” a high-ranking presidential official told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.

With the general election scheduled for next April and the recent Cabinet reshuffle, most ministers who were replaced announced their bids to run. However, only Land Minister Won Hee-ryong announced a bid to run in a liberal area, namely, Gyeyang District in Incheon.

Before leaving for the Netherlands, Yoon was said to have told some of his closest aides that “everyone must compete in the general election under fair standards” and that no one should be granted “preferential treatment,” according to a source.

Another close aide to the president told the JoongAng Ilbo that “personal relationships and networks including where the candidates went to school” will be considered in the general election but dismissed the claim that “all close aides of Yoon” were targeting areas already favorable to conservatives.

There have also been visible rifts within the People Power Party, with the party’s innovation committee ending its activities earlier than scheduled as party leaders reportedly greeted its proposals with intense skepticism.

Yoon’s approval rating has remained around 37 percent in the past two months, coming in at 37.4 percent this week, according to a poll by Real Meter.

Yoon, arriving in Amsterdam on Monday, was scheduled to meet with Koreans living in Amsterdam later that day. He begins the official schedule on Tuesday with a welcome ceremony and a private luncheon with the king and his wife, Queen Maxima. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to lay a wreath at a national monument in Dam Square and attend a state dinner at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

Yoon will be accompanied by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands during their tour of ASML on Tuesday, as well as by Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The duo represents Korea's biggest chipmakers, to which the Dutch multinational corporation has provided advanced chip manufacturing equipment. Producing high-performing processors that power high-end smartphones and supercomputers is impossible without ASML's lithography machine based on extreme ultraviolet.

On Wednesday, Yoon is scheduled to visit the Dutch Parliament in The Hague, hold a bilateral summit with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and have a joint press conference afterward. The prime minister will also host a business luncheon.

Yoon will also participate in economic and cultural events, including a business forum attended by some 200 people and a meeting with Dutch veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Last year, bilateral trade reached an all-time high of $16 billion, or around 21 trillion won, and the Netherlands' total investment in Korea reached $37.9 billion.

BY ESTHER CHUNG, KWON HO [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]