To meet with President, leaders of Ukraine
Chairman Lee Jun-seok of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) is reportedly left for the Republic of Ukraine on the night of June 3, 2022 for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to MBC and other Korean-language news media sources in Seoul, Lee and a number of other PPP members of the National Assembly departed for Ukraine on June 3. Lee and the PPP National Assembly members are expected to meet with President Vladimir Zelenskyy and other dignitaries of Ukraine to discuss cooperation between the two countries.
According to sources in Seoul on June 4, ‘Korea-Ukraine Freedom and Peace Solidarity Special Delegation’ led by Lee and his party lawmakers left Korea via Incheon International Airport on June 3. The delegation members included PPP leaders Tae Young-ho, Park Seong-min and Kim Cheol-geun.
They are expected to meet with President Zelenskyy in Kiiu, Ukraine, and discuss matters of mutual interests, such as providing logistics support and attending the Ukraine reconstruction meeting scheduled for next month. However, the specific schedule was not disclosed due to personal safety issues.
Lee also had a meeting with Ukrainian Ambassador to Korea Dmitro Ponomarenko at the National Assembly on the 2nd day before his departure. After the interview, Ambassador Ponomarenko met with reporters and said, “Chairman Lee will meet with officials from the Ukrainian ruling party as well as high-ranking government officials. He expects exchanges between Ukraine and South Korea to take place.” He added, “I hope that South Korea will take the lead in cooperation with Ukraine and in the military field.”
Chairman Lee also said, “This time, on behalf of the ruling party, a delegation will study the local situation in Ukraine, more vividly than the media reports, and more concretely than the media approaches, so that we can understand the reality and deliver it to President Yoon Suk-yeol.”
Regarding whether to coordinate President Yoon Seok-yeol's message to be delivered through his visit to Ukraine, Chairman Lee declined to answer, saying, "Even in political party diplomacy, there is difference between the area in charge of the Presidential office and the area in charge of the political party."