President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung greet welcoming officials at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday (local time). [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung greet welcoming officials at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday (local time). [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae-myung arrived in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday (local time), the first stop on an 8-night, 10-day European tour.

Air Force One touched down at Melsbroek military airport at around 3:40 p.m.

Having wrapped up major domestic matters — including local elections and a press conference marking his first year in office — Lee is using the trip to shift his focus toward diplomacy and security as he enters his second year in power.

Over the 8-night, 10-day itinerary, Lee will visit Belgium, the EU, Italy and the Vatican before attending the G7 summit in Évian, France.

Building on diplomatic groundwork laid during his administration's first year, Lee aims to broaden South Korea's diplomatic stage beyond the United States and Japan into Europe, and to cement the country's standing as a globally responsible "G7-plus" power.

President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung wave to well-wishers from Air Force One after landing at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday (local time). [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung wave to well-wishers from Air Force One after landing at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday (local time). [Yonhap]

Lee opened his tour Tuesday with a dinner meeting with members of the Korean diaspora in Brussels. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to hold summit talks with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and meet with King Philippe.

The meetings will mark Lee's first encounters with Belgian leaders since taking office. His administration plans to use them to explore concrete steps to elevate bilateral cooperation.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, Lee will hold talks with EU leaders and attend a signing ceremony for an agreement. It will be the first bilateral visit by a South Korean head of state to the EU in eight years.

Lee also intends to expand security cooperation with the EU. Drawing on the Security and Defence Partnership the two sides adopted in 2024, South Korea plans to pursue closer intelligence sharing with the EU while stepping up joint efforts to combat transnational crimes such as drug trafficking and terrorism.

The two sides will also hold in-depth discussions on key regional situations — including the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East — amid growing global uncertainty, and will explore ways to coordinate on energy, supply chain stability and critical minerals.

Lee will depart Belgium on Wednesday evening for Rome, the second stop on his tour.


sang@heraldcorp.com