Anchor: President Yoon Suk Yeol departed for the United States on Wednesday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. He is expected to take part in a number of talks with other world leaders on the sidelines, while calling for stronger solidarity and cooperation in trade and investment.
Max Lee brings us his itinerary.

Report: President Yoon Suk Yeol departed for the United States to take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Summit on Wednesday.

The presidential plane carrying Yoon, First Lady Kim Keon-hee and the president’s entourage took off from Seoul at around 2:15 p.m.

The first item on the president’s itinerary is a meeting with Korean residents in the host city, followed by an “APEC CEO” summit and meeting young Korean leaders working in the field of cutting-edge technology.

On Thursday and Friday, Yoon will take part in different sessions of the summit and trade opinions with world leaders on the energy transition, supply chains and the restoration of a multilateral trade system under this year’s theme, "Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All."

In a written interview with the Associated Press before his departure, President Yoon said that he will call for stronger solidarity and cooperation to advance trade and investment liberalization, innovation and digitalization as well as inclusive and sustainable growth.

Yoon added that the global economy is becoming further fragmented by the weaponization of economic resources and that supply chain risks pose the biggest hurdle to regional economic development.

He is also set to attend a summit of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework on the sidelines of the APEC summit on Friday.

On the same day, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will lead discussions at Stanford University, where the leaders are expected to share ways the two countries and the U.S. can cooperate in the cutting-edge technology sector.

While a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit is not confirmed, such a meeting would be the first in-person talks between the two since they met in Bali, Indonesia during the G20 Summit in November last year.
Max Lee, KBS World Radio News.