First Summit with Italian Prime Minister Held in New York During UN General Assembly
Korea-France Summit Canceled
"Urgent Matter on the French Side"
On the 24th (local time), President Lee Jaemyung held his first bilateral summit with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week. The two leaders agreed to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and defense industry.
Prime Minister Meloni noted that the two countries have developed a balanced cooperative relationship in various areas, including trade and investment. She highlighted the high potential for expanding economic cooperation between the two countries, as demonstrated by the Korea-Italy Business Forum held successfully in Seoul earlier in September, which saw participation from numerous companies from both nations.
In response, President Lee stated, "The two countries share commonalities in various aspects, such as geographical location and national character." He added, "Based on our strategic partnership, let us deepen and advance mutually beneficial cooperation between our governments and businesses in areas such as AI and the defense industry."
Prime Minister Meloni praised Korea's significant economic and cultural potential and expressed her hope to visit Korea at the earliest possible opportunity to materialize substantive cooperation. She also invited President Lee to visit Italy at a convenient time. President Lee replied, "Let us work to ensure that exchanges between our leaders yield meaningful results by holding sufficient consultations in each area of cooperation to expand substantive cooperation."
The two leaders noted that both countries have played a positive role and made contributions on the international stage, holding similar positions on various global issues and seeking to expand opportunities amid the current complex global crises. They agreed to further deepen such cooperation going forward. Additionally, the leaders shared the view that bilateral relations should be elevated in line with changes in the international environment and agreed to realize this through reciprocal visits.
Meanwhile, the presidential office announced that the scheduled summit with France would not take place. In a notice to the press corps, the presidential office explained, "Regarding the meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, the French side requested a postponement due to an unavoidable urgent domestic matter, and as a result of both leaders' schedules, the meeting was ultimately canceled."
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