Yoon Meets Leaders of Over 60 Countries in a Month for Expo Hosting Campaign... "A First in Diplomatic History"

Meeting with Leaders from Over 40 Countries During US Visit for UN General Assembly
All Resources Mobilized for Relay Summit Meetings Venue and Personnel

President Yoon Suk-yeol held separate meetings and luncheons with leaders from a total of 28 countries over three days during his recent visit to New York, USA. Including an additional 12 individual bilateral meetings scheduled to take place, more than 60 summit meetings have been conducted in the past month. This move aims to maximize support in the final vote for the host city of the 2030 World Expo, which will be held two months later, by proposing tailored one-on-one cooperation with each summit partner.

Kim Tae-hyo, the First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, introduced the background and details of President Yoon’s bilateral meetings during a briefing at the New York Press Center on the 20th (local time), stating, "This was carried out according to a meticulously reviewed strategy in terms of content and format." Kim said, "The bilateral meetings during this trip were prioritized based on the countries selected for the Busan World Expo bid," adding, "We selected countries that could elevate cooperative relations through the Busan Expo as a medium, and carefully decided the form of meetings, such as whether to hold luncheons or dinners, to achieve the desired outcomes as much as possible." This indicates that not only the target countries for summit meetings but also the formats of bilateral meetings, one-on-one luncheons, and group luncheons and dinners were all carefully considered in line with the strategy to secure the 2030 Busan Expo.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who visited New York, USA to attend the United Nations General Assembly, held a series of summit meetings with leaders of nine countries on the first day of his visit on the 18th (local time) to promote the bid for the 2030 Busan World Expo.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The venue for the bilateral meetings was also chosen to be the Korean Permanent Mission to the United Nations building, which is close to the UN Headquarters where the General Assembly is held. According to Kim, this utilized the "geographical advantage" of being within walking distance from the UN Headquarters. The entire mission building was decorated like an Expo promotional center, and more than two meeting rooms were set up on the second floor to ensure that consecutive summit meetings could be held on time without delays. Separate spaces were also prepared inside for each leader to wait and for luncheons and dinners. Furthermore, to prevent scheduling delays, Korean protocol officers were dispatched around the UN Headquarters to conduct an all-day "intelligence operation" to escort the counterpart leaders on time, Kim explained.

At the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and G20 summit meetings held earlier this month, President Yoon held bilateral meetings with leaders from 20 countries. Upon arriving in New York on the 18th, he conducted nine bilateral meetings over seven hours, and the day before, he met with leaders from eight countries. On this day, President Yoon held talks with leaders from 11 countries including Switzerland, the Central African Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Colombia, Hungary, Israel, Thailand, Bulgaria, Greece, and Eswatini. The presidential office explained that he plans to meet with leaders from 12 more countries before returning home. In total, he will have met with leaders from 40 countries during this visit to the US. Among them, nine countries?Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino, North Macedonia, Burundi, Mauritania, Eswatini, Nepal, and Haiti?held their first-ever summit meetings since establishing diplomatic relations, discussing cooperation in agriculture, digital transformation, and energy.

Kim said, "Expo hosting diplomacy itself encapsulates the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s national governance and diplomatic stance," emphasizing, "The stage of the Expo is global, and its goal is free communication through solidarity. This diplomatic campaign aims to become a global pivotal country that responsibly contributes by returning the help received from the international community back to it." A senior official from the presidential office also told reporters, "It is clear that no president in the past 100 years has held 60 bilateral meetings and more than 10 multilateral meetings within a month." However, the presidential office canceled its earlier plan to apply for Guinness World Records for President Yoon as the president who held the most summit meetings within a month before his US visit. A senior official said, "As a principle, political, diplomatic, and political affairs issues are not registered in the Guinness Book."

President Yoon Suk-yeol, visiting the United States, delivered a keynote speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly held at the UN Headquarters in New York on the 20th (local time). On this day, President Yoon promoted various Official Development Assistance (ODA) plans for solidarity with the international community and appealed for support from countries around the world to host the 2030 Busan Expo. [Image source=Yonhap News]