President Lee Myung-bak is officially invited to deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress during his state visit to the U.S.

House Speaker John Boehner issued a statement formally inviting the South Korean president to give the speech in Washington D.C. next Thursday local time.

Boehner said in his statement that “it would be an honor to have President Lee, a steadfast friend of the American people, address the United States Congress.”

Lee’s speech would follow the finalization of the schedule for passing a bill to ratify the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement by both the House and Senate on Wednesday local time, the day before the South Korea-U.S. summit.