Visit to Japan, U.S. starts

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae Myung will begin his diplomatic trip to meet with the leaders of Japan and the United States tomorrow (Aug. 23).

During his 6-day, 3-night trip, he will broadly discuss future-oriented Korea-Japan cooperation and ways to strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance.

He will send a special envoy to Chinese President Xi Jinping to deliver a personal letter.

Reporter Lee Hee Yeon has the details.

[Report]

Upon arriving in Tokyo, Japan tomorrow, President Lee Jae Myung's first schedule will be a luncheon with the Korean residents in Japan.

He will then hold a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and have dinner together.

The next day, after meeting with key figures in the Japanese parliament, he will move directly to the United States.

The first Korea-U.S. summit, just 82 days after his inauguration, will take place in the early hours of the 26th, Korean time.

President Lee Jae Myung and President Trump are expected to continue their discussions over lunch after the summit.

There is also interest in whether the two leaders will issue a joint statement during this meeting.

The presidential office, which stated that they are discussing the wording, said, "Given the variability of the Trump administration, we cannot guarantee that a final statement will be released."

In an unusual move, the presidential office's 'three secretaries' will accompany him on this trip to the U.S., including Chief of Staff Kang Hoon Sik.

President Lee will also attend a 'Business Roundtable' with business leaders from both countries and is scheduled to give a policy speech at the U.S. think tank CSIS, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He will conclude his 6-day, 3-night schedule with a visit to the Hanwha shipyard in Philadelphia and return on the 28th.

Before his visit to the U.S., a special envoy delegation will be sent to China.

They are expected to deliver a personal letter from the president to President Xi Jinping.

[Kang Yu-jung/Spokesperson for the Presidential Office: "In the context of the importance of the Korea-China-Japan and Korea-Japan-China relationships in Asia, the dispatch of the special envoy delegation signifies a return to diplomacy..."]

The decision to send a special envoy to China while making Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation the central axis of diplomacy reflects President Lee's diplomatic stance of pursuing practicality.

This is KBS News, Lee Hee Yeon reporting.