President Lee Jae Myung will not attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit to be held in The Hague, Netherlands, from June 24 to 25.
In a written briefing on June 22, the presidential office stated, "Despite the many pressing state affairs following the president's inauguration, the government had been actively considering President Lee's attendance at this NATO summit. However, after comprehensively taking into account various domestic issues and uncertainties arising from the situation in the Middle East, it has been decided that the president will not attend in person this time."
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO has invited four countries?South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand (IP4, the four Indo-Pacific partners). Former President Yoon attended the summit for three consecutive years, but President Lee, despite having received an official invitation, will not participate.
Initially, President Lee was reportedly preparing to attend the NATO summit. However, the decision was changed after the outbreak of the Middle East crisis, including the U.S. airstrike on Iranian nuclear facilities on the night of June 21 local time.
The presidential office mentioned, "The issue of other government officials' attendance will be discussed with the NATO side."
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