President Yoon to visit U.S. from August 8 to 11 to attend NATO summit

South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl will visit the United States from the 8th to the 11th to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. President Yoon and other NATO leaders will discuss measures against North Korea, Russia, and other nations.
On the 5th, the presidential office announced that President Yoon will attend the NATO summit to be held in Washington DC on the 10th and 11th.
The ATO invited South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand to the summit as Asia-Pacific Partners (AP4).
In addition to the multilateral conference, President Yoon is scheduled to hold relay bilateral talks with the leaders of the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Norway on the 10th.
On the evening of the 10th, he will attend a friendly dinner hosted by US President Biden. On the 11th, he will attend the Korea-Japan-Australia-New Zealand Summit and the NATO Public Forum.
"In response to the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, the NATO alliance of more than 30 countries is also in a position of concern," said a senior official in the White House.
"I think this is an opportunity to send a joint message at the Pacific level as well," he said. "The main concept of this visit is to build a three-dimensional Korean security that includes the U.S., South Korea, NATO, and the Indo-Pacific region."
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the same day that NATO would adopt a joint draft document to strengthen cooperation with the IP4 in areas such as responding to cyber attacks and fake news.
With President Yoon attending the NATO summit, it is expected that the issue of South Korea joining the military alliance "AUKUS," which the United States is building to target China, will be discussed.
The AOC is divided into "Pillar 1," which focuses on nuclear submarines, and "Pillar 2," which is for advanced military technology cooperation in areas such as quantum computing, hypersonics, and artificial intelligence (AI).
However, the US is pushing for the idea of having South Korea and Japan join Pillar 2. A senior official in the White House said, "The Aucus Pillar 2 issue is separate from the NATO summit," and "It will be considered over the long term."
"We need time to consider this, so at present we are at a very preliminary stage, with discussions between the relevant countries."