YOON ARRIVES IN U.S. FOR STATE VISIT

[Anchor Lead]

President Yoon Suk Yeol has arrived in Washington, D.C., and kicked off his five-night, seven-day state visit to the United States. During his visit, President Yoon is expected to discuss strengthening cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. in the fields of security and economy.

[Pkg]

High-ranking U.S. officials greet President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee descending the Code One presidential aircraft. After inspecting the honor guard, Yoon began his official schedule in the U.S. He is the first South Korean president to pay a state visit to the U.S. in 12 years. An official welcome ceremony, a South Korea-U.S. summit and the state dinner will take place on Wednesday, local time. The top agenda for the Yoon-Biden summit is strengthening the U.S.' extended deterrence to respond to North Korea's nuclear threats with the U.S. 'strategic nuclear assets. Other key issues include cooperation in supply chains and cutting-edge semiconductor and battery technologies as well as expansion of investment and exports.

[Soundbite] Choi Sang-mok(Senior Pres. Secretary for economic affairs(April 19)) : "On the economic front, the three key items are supply chains, cutting-edge technologies and investments."

The summit will likely discuss the U.S.' alleged wiretapping and South Korea's aid to Ukraine. Events looking back on the 70-year alliance and presenting future directions for the bilateral ties are also scheduled. President Yoon will highlight the significance of alliance in an address he will deliver at a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Thursday local time.

[Soundbite] Kim Tae-hyo(Principal Deputy Nat'l Security Adviser(April 20)) : "The president will highlight challenges facing South Korea and the U.S. and present a blueprint for future alliance."

He will stress the value of liberty in a speech at Harvard University on Friday local time. The key goal of the state visit is further strengthening and upgrading the South Korea-U.S. alliance in all sectors from economy to security based on shared common values. In other words, it means expanding the scope of the bilateral alliance. However along the way, South Korea will inevitably need to address the new task of how to coordinate and manage relations with China and Russia.