Yoon Returns Home After 3-Day G7 Summit Diplomacy Trip

Starting with Korea-Australia on the 19th, followed by Korea-Japan, Korea-US-Japan, and Zelensky

President Yoon Suk-yeol returned home on the 21st after concluding the schedule of the Group of Seven (G7) summit held in Hiroshima, Japan. From the 19th, President Yoon attended multilateral and bilateral meetings as a guest country leader for three days and two nights, discussing global cooperation measures including diplomacy and security, economy, and support for underdeveloped countries.

On the same day in the afternoon, President Yoon boarded the presidential aircraft, Air Force One, together with First Lady Kim Keon-hee, departing for Korea through Hiroshima Airport. On the Japanese side, Protocol Chief Shimada Takehiro and Hiroshima City Council Chairman Motani Tatsunori saw them off, while on the Korean side, Ambassador Yoon Deok-min to Japan and his spouse, and Consul General Im Si-heung in Hiroshima and his spouse were present to bid farewell.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee, having completed the schedule of the Group of Seven (G7) summit, waved to the farewell crowd as they departed from Hiroshima Airport in Japan on the 21st.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

During the G7 summit, President Yoon participated in various multilateral and bilateral meetings. Starting with a Korea-Australia summit with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Norman Albanese on the 19th, he also held a Korea-Vietnam summit with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. For the first time as a Korean president, he met with Korean residents in Hiroshima who were victims of the atomic bombing and apologized, saying, "Our compatriots are suffering hardships and pain far from home, and the government and nation of the Republic of Korea were not by your side."

On the last day, he jointly paid respects with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at the memorial monument for Korean atomic bomb victims in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Subsequently, he held a Korea-US-Japan summit with US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida, discussing strategic cooperation measures among the three countries. The Korea-US-Japan summit was held six months after the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last November, where they agreed on strengthening security cooperation as well as economic and Indo-Pacific strategies.

At the request of Ukraine, which the Korean government accepted, a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also arranged. At this meeting, President Yoon stated, "The Republic of Korea values freedom, international solidarity, and an international order based on norms," and expressed solidarity and support for Ukraine. In particular, President Yoon promised, "We will strive to promptly provide the supplies Ukraine currently needs, such as mine-clearing equipment and emergency evacuation vehicles."