Presidential Office: "Yoon to Sit Next to Biden at G7 Dinner... 'Discussion on Current Issues'"

Seat Allocation Reflects Consideration by Prime Minister Kishida

President Yoon Suk-yeol sat right next to U.S. President Joe Biden at the Group of Seven (G7) summit's social dinner and exchanged views on current issues.

According to the presidential office on the 21st, President Yoon took a seat beside President Biden at the G7 summit's social dinner held the previous day in Hiroshima, Japan.

The presidential office introduced that during the two-hour dinner starting at 9 p.m., President Yoon and President Biden engaged in in-depth discussions on various topics.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The presidential office explained that President Yoon sitting next to President Biden was a courtesy arranged by Prime Minister Kishida. According to the presidential office, President Yoon sat diagonally opposite Prime Minister Kishida.

A key official from the presidential office told reporters at the Hiroshima local press center that morning, "President Yoon recently made a state visit to Washington, achieving significant outcomes such as the 'Washington Declaration,' so a separate Korea-U.S. summit was not scheduled in advance."

This implies that since sufficient discussions on Korea-U.S. issues took place during President Yoon's state visit to the U.S. last month, and with the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit scheduled for that day, there was little need for a separate meeting.

The key official added, "Although a separate summit was not arranged, since the opportunity arose, the two presidents had things to discuss, and it seems they sat next to each other in the meeting room and seriously exchanged views on ongoing issues for continued bilateral discussions."