President Lee Jae-myung returned to Korea via Seoul Air Base on the night of the 27th after finishing a visit to Malaysia to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. Lee is expected to ramp up preparations for major diplomatic events soon to follow, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and summits among Korea, the United States, China, and Japan.
Upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur on the 26th, Lee held a meeting with the Korean community and conveyed his intent to strengthen local cooperation. On the morning of the 27th, the following day, he held his first summit with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to discuss ways to advance the two countries' strategic partnership and expand exchanges.
In particular, they addressed as a key agenda item the recent controversy over the kidnapping and detention of Koreans in Cambodia, and the two countries agreed to operate a "Korea task force (Task Force)" starting in November to respond to crimes targeting Koreans.
At the Korea-ASEAN summit that followed, Lee expressed his intention to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Korea and ASEAN. At the ASEAN+3 (Korea, China, Japan) summit that followed, he also stressed the importance of cooperation between ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian countries. He also had his first face-to-face encounter with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines.
As the final item on the official schedule, Lee held talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country holds the ASEAN chair.