President Yoon makes a historical official state visit to the U.S. for summit talks

By Publisher Lee Kyung-sik

For the first time in several years, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America appear to be in real good hands!

President Yoon Suk-yeol of Korea is mending relations, cooperation and friendship between the two countries after they were reportedly somewhat “not as good as before” in the opinion of many people in Korea, the U.S., and many other countries of the world.

In the opinion of the majority of the Korean people, especially those in the conservative camp, the middle-of-the-roaders and many other people, the Korean-American relations are ‘back in the proper orbit.’

According to a report by Yonhap News Agency in Korea on April 25, President Yoon arrived in Washington D.C. on for a six-day state visit that is expected to strengthen the allies' response to North Korea's nuclear threat and other challenges in a symbolic year marking the 70th anniversary of the alliance—as well as promotion of relations, cooperation and friendship in many other areas.

On the theme of "Alliance in Action, Toward the Future," Yoon’s visit to the U.S. comes at a time of growing concern over North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile capabilities and questions about the credibility of Washington's "extended deterrence" commitment to Seoul which comes on the nerves of many people in the fact the bilateral relations have been considered to be “not as good as before between them” for the past five years under the former government in Korea, which, in the opinion of many people, were tilted somewhat in favor of North Korea, China, Russia and other non-Free World countries of the world.

A joint statement on measures to enhance extended deterrence (e.g., the U.S. commitment to mobilizing the full range of her military capabilities, including nuclear weaponry, to defend its ally) is expected to be among the highlight topics to be discussed and resolved during Yoon's summit meetings with President Joe Biden at the White House.

The historical ROK-U.S. summit will be preceded by an official arrival ceremony and followed by a state dinner hosted by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, which will be attended by President Yoon and First Lady Madam Kim Keon-hee.

First Deputy Advisor Kim Tae-hyo on National Security for the President said: "The two leaders will spend a lot of time together over the course of many events, celebrate the achievements of the ROK-U.S. alliance continuous grown over the past 70 years, and exchange in depth their mutual views on the future of the alliance of the two countries.”

Kim then noted: "We expect the contents and width of our global comprehensive strategic alliance to be further expanded at the upcoming talks based on the trust and friendship so far formed between the leaders of the two countries.”

The ROK-U.S. summit will be the sixth meeting between Yoon and Biden following their meetings in Seoul last May and in Madrid, London, New York and Phnom Penh.

Yoon’s visit also comes when the two countries are trying to further increase cooperation on economic security in such areas as semiconductors and batteries, where the Korean businesses are seeking to win concessions in the implementation of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act.

During the visit, Yoon is accompanied by a 122-person business delegation consisting of the heads of big businesses, such as Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong of the Samsung Electronics, Chairman Chey Tae-won of the SK Group, Executive Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group, and the leaders of six major business associations such as the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

President Yoon is the first ROK President making the top-rate state visit to the U.S. since former President Lee Myung-bak who visited the country in 2011 and the second foreign leader after French President Emmanuel Macron to pay such a visit under the Biden Administration.

President Yoon is also slated to attend a ceremony where some of the advance- technology companies are expected to announce their plans to invest in the ROK, and a business roundtable with the CEOs of some 30 major business companies from the two countries, including Samsung, SK, Hyundai, Qualcomm, Lam Research and Boeing.

According to the Yonhap report, President Yoon is also known to be slated to visit the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center outside Washington on the same day to discuss space cooperation between the two countries and meet with Korean scientists working for NASA.

A video honoring notable U.S. and Korean veterans of the Korean War (1950-3) began airing in New York's Times Square and will be shown periodically shown through May 3.

Also, Yoon is slated to deliver an address before a joint session of Congress and look back on the past 70 years of an alliance rooted in the shared values of liberal democracy, the rule of law and human rights, address the challenges the two countries face and present a blueprint for the alliance's way forward.

Yoon then is slated to have lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken before moving to an undisclosed location to receive a briefing from U.S. military leaders.

Moon is also known to attend a global video content leadership forum to present a vision for cultural solidarity and cooperation between the two countries, and meet with officials from American mass media companies, such as Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal Media, Sony Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and Netflix.

Later, on that day, Yoon is expected to travel to Boston and have discussions on with digital and bio scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and also deliver an address at Harvard University the same day.

"President Yoon will look back on the U.S.-led expansion of economic and political freedoms over the past 200 years and share his thoughts on the two sides of freedom in the digital era we live in," Kim Tae-hyo said.