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Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Lee returns to Seoul, ends debut trip as president
President Lee Jae Myung and his wife Kim Hea Kyung returned to South Korea Thursday morning, ending their brief visit to Canada to attend the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis village of Canada's Alberta province. Upon Lee's arrival at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Lee was greeted by Ko Ki-dong, vice minister of the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's floor leader Rep. Kim Byung-kee. Also present at the airport were Kang Hoon-sik, Lee's presidential chief of staff; Woo Sang-ho, senior presidential secretary for political affairs and Kim Jin-a, second vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lee's attendance at G7 marked his first overseas trip since he took office on June 4. Lee is scheduled to convene a Cabinet meeting Thursday afternoon over the plan for a new batch of extra budget spending at his office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
South Korea's President Lee departs for G7 summit on first overseas trip
SEOUL, June 16 (UPI) -- South Korean President Lee Jae-myung departed for Canada on Monday to attend the Group of Seven summit, his first overseas engagement since taking office earlier this month. Lee and first lady Kim Hye-kyung left from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam at around 4:30 p.m. to head to Calgary, Alberta. The visit marks a return to the global diplomatic stage for South Korea after a six-month power vacuum caused by impeached former President Yoon Suk-yeol's botched martial law attempt. "Through this event, President Lee will build a bond with the leaders of each country and lay the foundation for achieving tangible results on pending issues, including trade issues," presidential spokeswoman Kang Yu-jung told reporters on Monday. The annual G7 summit brings together some of the world's largest economies, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union. South Korea and several other countries were also invited by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. After arriving in Calgary, Lee is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from the invited countries. He will then travel to the summit location of Kananaskis on Tuesday and deliver remarks at a session on AI and energy supply chains. Lee also plans to hold talks with the leaders of the G7 member states, national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said at a press briefing Sunday. The G7 summit "will be the first international stage to inform the international community that democratic Korea is back," Wi said. "This will be a great opportunity to take the first step in practical diplomacy centered on national interests," he said. "It is very timely that President Lee will have the opportunity to build trust early through face-to-face meetings with the leaders of major countries, just 10 days after taking office." The summit may provide Lee with the opportunity for his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to address several pressing issues, including trade negotiations, defense cost-sharing and North Korean threats. The two leaders spoke shortly after Lee's inauguration and agreed to work toward reaching a mutually acceptable trade agreement, including on tariffs. Also potentially on the agenda is a first meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Seoul and Tokyo saw their historically strained relations improve under the administration of Lee's predecessor, President Yoon. Lee and Ishiba affirmed the importance of continued cooperation in their first phone call last week and stressed the need to maintain trilateral ties with the United States in the face of a challenging security environment in the region. The two countries are commemorating the 60th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations next week. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
5 days ago
- Business
- UPI
South Korea's President Lee departs for G7 summit on first overseas trip
1 of 5 | South Korean President Lee Jae-myung (R) waves next to his wife Kim Hye-kyung before departing on Air Force One from Seoul Airport in Seongnam near Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, June, 16, 2025. Lee is heading to the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Canada for the first overseas trip of his presidency. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo SEOUL, June 16 (UPI) -- South Korean President Lee Jae-myung departed for Canada on Monday to attend the Group of Seven summit, his first overseas engagement since taking office earlier this month. Lee and first lady Kim Hye-kyung left from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam at around 4:30 p.m. to head to Calgary, Alberta. The visit marks a return to the global diplomatic stage for South Korea after a six-month power vacuum caused by impeached former President Yoon Suk-yeol's botched martial law attempt. "Through this event, President Lee will build a bond with the leaders of each country and lay the foundation for achieving tangible results on pending issues, including trade issues," presidential spokeswoman Kang Yu-jung told reporters on Monday. The annual G7 summit brings together some of the world's largest economies, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union. South Korea and several other countries were also invited by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. After arriving in Calgary, Lee is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from the invited countries. He will then travel to the summit location of Kananaskis on Tuesday and deliver remarks at a session on AI and energy supply chains. Lee also plans to hold talks with the leaders of the G7 member states, national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said at a press briefing Sunday. The G7 summit "will be the first international stage to inform the international community that democratic Korea is back," Wi said. "This will be a great opportunity to take the first step in practical diplomacy centered on national interests," he said. "It is very timely that President Lee will have the opportunity to build trust early through face-to-face meetings with the leaders of major countries, just 10 days after taking office." The summit may provide Lee with the opportunity for his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to address several pressing issues, including trade negotiations, defense cost-sharing and North Korean threats. The two leaders spoke shortly after Lee's inauguration and agreed to work toward reaching a mutually acceptable trade agreement, including on tariffs. Also potentially on the agenda is a first meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Seoul and Tokyo saw their historically strained relations improve under the administration of Lee's predecessor, President Yoon. Lee and Ishiba affirmed the importance of continued cooperation in their first phone call last week and stressed the need to maintain trilateral ties with the United States in the face of a challenging security environment in the region. The two countries are commemorating the 60th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations next week.
Korea Herald
22-04-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
Koreans mourn Pope Francis, look back on his Korea legacy
A man of disarming humility, serious about peace on Korean Peninsula, say believers and non-believers A memorial for the late Pope Francis began Tuesday at Myeongdong Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of Seoul, where a space for paying tribute opened a day after the death of the Head of the Catholic Church. 'I feel at a complete loss, not as a Catholic but as a human being searching for the kind of decency the pope has always shown," said Jang Gil-ja, a lifelong Catholic who said she would pay respects as soon as the public mourning started in the afternoon. Catholic leaders paid homage in the morning, led by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung and Seoul Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick. The 88-year-old pontiff had been an icon for the past 12 years, even to non-believers, said Hyun Myung-sook, an atheist. The allure lies in the man himself, Hyun added, referring to the pope who was known for advocating for justice and his outreach to the marginalized. Legacy to honor One of the striking memories many Koreans have of the pope dates to his August 2014 visit to Korea, the first since Pope Saint John Paul II's second visit to Korea in 1989. On Aug. 14, the first day of his five-day trip, Francis met with and consoled bereaved family members of the Sewol ferry disaster that occurred in April that year. He went on to meet with bereaved loved ones of Sewol victims on multiple occasions throughout his visit: upon landing at Seoul Air Base, the following day at the Mass of the Assumption of Mary celebrated at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, and on the third day during a car parade at Gwanghwamun Square. Francis was in Korea to beatify 124 Korean Catholic martyrs in Seoul, including Paul Yun Ji-chung, and to officiate a Mass at the Sixth Asian Youth Day. Koreans were also moved by the pope's words eight years later in 2022. He said a prayer for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush in October that year, which killed 150 mostly young adults out to enjoy Halloween festivities. "Young people tragically lost their lives. Let us pray for them," Francis said during a Mass at St. Peter's Square. Francis was just as invested in his message of peace as he was in advancing solidarity. Reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula, where the two Koreas technically remain in a state of war, was a topic in which Francis took a deep interest. Though an armistice agreement ended the fighting of the 1950-53 Korean War, no peace treaty has been signed since. 'When they invite me — that is to say, please invite me — I won't say no,' Francis said of the possibility of visiting North Korea to help broker peace in a 2022 interview with local broadcaster KBS. Then South Korean President Moon Jae-in had floated the idea each time he visited the Vatican — in 2018 and 2021. Entreaties for a papal visit to North Korea, which never came to fruition, were made by a number of South Korean presidents. A devout Catholic, former President Kim Dae-jung sought the same intervention from Pope John Paul II when he visited the Vatican in March 2003, the first for a sitting Korean president. The ripple effect of the pope's visit would translate to "influence and blessing unimaginable now," Kim said at the time, crediting the pontiff with potential breakthroughs in not just inter-Korean rapprochement but international peace. John Paul, however, was more hesitant than Francis. "I don't yet have such plans but if that happens, that would be a miracle," John Paul said. Korean Catholics' sorrow over Francis' death is deepened as the pope was expected to visit the country in 2027 to attend World Youth Day, a global event to be hosted in Seoul. Korea is the second Asian country to host the event after the Philippines in 1995, a selection some Catholics say is a hint of Korea's growing foothold within the Roman Catholic Church. "It's a shame that we don't get to see the pope in person," said Hwang Jeong-cheol, who plans on taking part in the event, which is expected to be attended by some 800,000 Catholics from around the world.
