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| Rep. Park Jin of the main opposition People Power Party, the leader of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's seven-member delegation to the U.S., delivers opening remarks during a diplomacy forum at the National Assembly in Seoul's Yeouido, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's delegation to the United States, led by veteran lawmaker Rep. Park Jin of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), is set to depart for Washington, D.C., on Sunday for a week-long trip, according to Yoon's spokeswoman Rep. Kim Eun-hye, Friday.
Attention is on whether the president-elect's delegation will meet U.S. President Joe Biden to deliver Yoon's message or discuss a future first summit between Yoon and Biden.
Spokeswoman Kim said the delegation's visit was aimed at policy coordination with Washington before Yoon's inauguration, which falls on May 10.
"The delegation will be meeting key figures with expertise to draw practical policy consultations," she said during a press briefing at the Korea Banking Institute in downtown Seoul.
Earlier on Thursday, Rep. Park told reporters at the Financial Supervisory Service's training center that he will make sure to deliver the president-elect's message in any form.
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| President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left and U.S. President Joe Biden. Yonhap, EPA |
"We are currently adjusting the schedule as to who we will be meeting during the visit while keeping all possibilities open," Park said.
There is also the possibility that the delegation will hold a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as Blinken could attend an in-person meeting with foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 6 and 7.
The seven-member delegation is expected to meet key figures and policymakers in the Joe Biden administration, Congress and think tanks to discuss economic security issues in the East Asian region and the international community.
The delegation is especially expected to coordinate on North Korea policy with its U.S. counterparts, as the delegation's visit to Washington follows Pyongyang's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch last Thursday, in violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and seen as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's abandonment of a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM tests since late 2017.
As well as Park, the deputy leader of the delegation is PPP Rep. Cho Tae-yong, who formerly served as a vice foreign minister under the previous Park Geun-hye administration. The other five members are: Seoul National University (SNU) political science and international relations professor Chung Jae-ho, SNU Graduate School of International Studies professor Park Cheol-hee, former South Korean Embassy defense attache in Washington Pyo Se-woo, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy researcher Yeon Won-ho, and the president-elect's spokesperson for foreign press Kang In-sun.
President-elect Yoon has been committed to diplomacy policy promises of strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance. He is reviewing a plan to visit U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, next week, to meet leaders of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), including General Paul LaCamera, commander of the United Nations Command (UNC), CFC and United States Forces Korea (USFK).
