Lee Jae-myung President spoke on the phone with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and New Zealand for the first time since taking office and discussed cooperation between the two countries.
Kang Yu-jung, Spokesperson for the Presidential Office, noted this in a written briefing.
President Lee first expressed gratitude for the congratulatory message from Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, and said, "I hope that the special strategic partnership between Korea and the UAE can be further strengthened with the launch of the new government."
The two leaders agreed on the need to expand the mutually trusted and broadly developed bilateral relations into more strategic and future-oriented areas during the phone call. In particular, they shared the intention to broaden cooperation into strategic fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), advanced technology, defense, and nuclear power.
The two leaders also agreed to meet in person at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in November to discuss specific cooperation plans.
Following this, President Lee spoke with Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. President Lee stated, "New Zealand is a valuable ally that participated in the Korean War even before establishing diplomatic ties with our country in 1962," and he added, "I hope that the two countries will continue to strengthen cooperation in various fields, including economy, defense, science and technology, and space."
In response, Prime Minister Luxon expressed interest in the increasing popularity of Korean culture in New Zealand and the expansion of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
The two leaders agreed on the necessity of upgrading bilateral relations to a "comprehensive strategic partnership" this year and decided to strengthen communication.
Furthermore, they agreed to actively cooperate as founding members for the successful hosting of the APEC summit in November and to discuss specific measures to deepen bilateral relations in future direct meetings.