President Lee Jae-myung left on the 21st for a trip to the United States and Mexico. In New York, he will use a keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly to lay out directions for U.N. reform aimed at solving global problems and how the South Korean government plans to contribute, while also explaining his blueprint for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. In Mexico, where a South Korean president is making a state visit for the first time in 16 years, he will focus on strengthening cooperation on energy and mineral supply chains.
Lee departed from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, that day, beginning a seven-day trip. Sending off Lee and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, at the airport were presidential aides including Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik and Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Ihk-pyo; Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok and floor leader Han Byung-do from the ruling party; Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung and First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo from the government; and Adrian Garcia, Mexico's charge d'affaires.
Lee will arrive in New York on the first leg of the trip and deliver a keynote address to the U.N. General Assembly's high-level session on the 22nd. Attention is focused in particular on whether he will meet President Donald Trump. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said in a pre-trip briefing at the presidential office that day that separate contacts in various formats are planned with leaders including those of the United States and Australia.
With an announcement on investment projects in the United States imminent and Washington pressing Seoul for a "contribution" related to the Strait of Hormuz, any meeting between the two leaders would inevitably cover trade and investment as well as security issues, drawing heightened interest.
In New York, Lee also plans to attend the Invest Korea Summit 2026, where he will explain the government's economic policies to major Wall Street investors.
After arriving in Mexico City on the 23rd, he will begin the 24th by laying a wreath at the Monument to the Boy Heroes in Chapultepec Park and attending an official welcoming ceremony at the National Palace. It is the first state visit to Mexico by a South Korean president in 16 years.
He will then hold one-on-one and expanded talks with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, followed by an exchange of memorandums of understanding and a luncheon with a joint press announcement. Later the same day, he will host a dinner meeting with members of the Korean community in Mexico. On the 25th, he will attend a business forum at the World Trade Center and visit the venue of a K-Expo event. Lee will leave Mexico City on the morning of the 26th to return home.
