YOON TO ATTEND TRILATERAL SUMMIT

[Anchor Lead]

President Yoon Suk-yeol is on his way to Madrid, Spain to attend the NATO Summit. There he is scheduled to meet with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on Wednesday for the first trilateral summit in more than four years. The North Korean nuclear issue will likely top the agenda.

[Pkg]

President Yoon Suk-yeol departed for Madrid, Spain on Monday to attend the NATO summit. He is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the 29th for a trilateral summit. It will be the first such three-way meeting in four years and nine months since the UN General Assembly in September 2017. Their key agenda is likely to be security alliance on the Korean Peninsula, such as the joint responses to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. They will also likely discuss economic and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Biden may bring up the issue of restoring the General Security of Military Information Agreement, an intelligence-sharing pact between South Korea and Japan.

[Soundbite] John Kirby(U.S. NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications (June 24))

It appears, however, Yoon’s one-on-one meeting with Kishida will not take place. Yoon's office said not even a short and informal meeting is scheduled. Talks should produce results, but the two haven’t discussed pending issues between the two nations ahead of the Japanese Upper House election. Yoon is to ask for more attention and support for the North Korean nuclear issue during his address at the NATO summit. He will also have nine bilateral summits with European leaders to talk about economic cooperation in nuclear power and semiconductor industries.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(President (June 24)) : "I can talk about various issues, including export issues at the NATO summit when necessary."

Accompanying the president, First Lady Kim Kun-hee will take part in official events for spouses and a dinner party for Korean expatriates in Spain.