Yoon arrives in Hawaii, begins U.S. trip for NATO summit

Diplomacy

Published: 09 Jul. 2024, 09:22 Updated: 09 Jul. 2024, 10:04

Yoon arrives in Hawaii, begins U.S. trip for NATO summit

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrive at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii Monday to begin their five-day trip to the United States ahead of the NATO summit in Washington later this week. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Hawaii Monday to begin a five-day trip to the United States to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington later this week.

Yoon was accompanied by first lady Kim Keon Hee as he arrived in Honolulu for a two-day visit.

They were scheduled to visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to pay respects to fallen veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War and hold a dinner for overseas compatriots.

On Tuesday, Yoon was scheduled to receive a security briefing at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and give words of encouragement to the soldiers there.

The president heads to Washington on Wednesday for the NATO summit, where he is expected to focus on concerns over the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

On Thursday, he will attend the NATO summit, meet with the four Indo-Pacific NATO partner countries and speak at the NATO Public Forum's Indo-Pacific session.

Korea was invited to the NATO summit for a third consecutive year as a non-NATO partner in the Indo-Pacific region, which also includes Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Yoon told Reuters in a written interview Monday that South Korea would decide on weapons support for Ukraine based on how a new defense pact between North Korea and Russia concluded during their leaders' bilateral summit last month played out.

He said that Russia must "sensibly decide" between the two Koreas as it decides where its national interest lies.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]