TRILATERAL SUMMIT TO BE HELD

[Anchor Lead]

The leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan will meet on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, the first such gathering in 4 years and 9 months. The trilateral meeting is expected to address North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat. President Yoon Suk-yeol will also deliver a speech at the summit, marking his debut on the multilateral diplomatic stage.

[Pkg]

At around 9:30 pm Wednesday Korea time, President Yoon will hold a summit with his American and Japanese counterparts. The three are expected to discuss Korean Peninsula issues including North Korea as well as economic and security cooperation in the Indo Pacific region. Yoon will then attend the NATO summit where he will deliver a three-minute speech.

[Soundbite] Kim Tae-hyo(First Deputy Office of Nat'l Security Adviser) : "In the speech, Yoon will stress freedom and peace can be guaranteed only through global solidarity and urge continued cooperation from NATO allies and partners on efforts to denuclearize the peninsula."

Some believe participants could adopt a new strategic concept regarding China but Seoul's presidential office said the issue does not require any direct response from the top office. The office said China may protest, but if Seoul skips the NATO summit, that will raise much stronger criticism and speculation. Meanwhile Yoon will also hold one-on-one talks with leaders of four countries including the Netherlands and Canada.
High on the agenda are economic issues such as nuclear power plants, supply chain and semiconductors. According to the top office the bilateral talks will mark the start of a sales diplomacy aimed at boosting Korean exports in the European market. On Tuesday, Yoon sat down with his Australian counterpart and discussed stronger cooperation on economic security and Canberra’s implementation of North Korea sanctions. Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon-hee also attended a gala dinner hosted by Spain’s King Felipe VI. The South Korean leader's scheduled meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been postponed due to scheduling issues on the NATO chief's side. The meeting was to focus on cooperation with the military alliance and humanitarian support for Ukraine.