President Lee Jae-myung will visit Malaysia on the 26th to 27th to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. A summit with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet is also scheduled on the 27th.
Wi Sung-lac, director of the Office of National Security, said at a briefing at the Yongsan presidential office on the 24th, "President Lee plans to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for 2 Days & 1 Night starting on the 26th to attend ASEAN-related summits."
On the first day of arrival, the 26th, President Lee will begin his schedule with a dinner meeting with Korean residents.
On the morning of the 27th, the second day, he will hold a summit with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Wi said, "We plan to discuss pending issues between the two countries, including the development of the Korea-Cambodia strategic partnership and cooperation on responding to online scam crimes."
After that, President Lee will attend the Korea-ASEAN summit to present a blueprint for advancing the Korea-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, and at the ASEAN+3 (Korea, China, Japan) summit to follow immediately, will emphasize strengthening cooperation between ASEAN and Korea, China, and Japan.
At the Korea-ASEAN summit, plans for international cooperation on scam crimes, which have recently been the subject of controversy, are also expected to be discussed intensively.
Wi said, "Scam crimes are not confined to one country but are committed by people of various nationalities crossing borders, so while we are focusing on bilateral consultations with Cambodia, we judge that a multilateral response with multiple countries would be more effective," adding, "President Lee is also expected to raise this issue at ASEAN."
On the afternoon of the 27th, a summit is scheduled with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country holds the ASEAN chair this year. At this meeting, the two sides are expected to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade and investment and defense industry.
Although the ASEAN summit runs through the evening of the 27th, President Lee is expected to head home after his summit with Prime Minister Ibrahim to prepare for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju. The remaining ASEAN summit-related schedule will be carried out by Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, head of the Trade Negotiations Office at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Regarding President Lee's attendance at the ASEAN summit, Wi said, "We will strengthen cooperation in future strategic fields such as AI," adding, "It will serve as an opportunity to advance Korea-ASEAN relations as a comprehensive strategic partner that jointly responds to regional challenges such as online scam crimes."
Regarding the ASEAN+3 summit, he explained, "We will also secure momentum to push forward cooperative projects to respond to the digital divide and food and energy crises," adding, "We will lay the foundation to strengthen, in a virtuous cycle, the momentum of trilateral cooperation among Korea, China, and Japan mediated by ASEAN."