South Korean president to visit US this week

ANKARA

The South Korean president is set to embark on a five-day visit to Washington on Wednesday, the presidency has announced.

During his stay in Washington, Moon Jae-in will meet President Joe Biden and other high officials including Vice President Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, Yonhap News Agency quoted Chung Man-ho, senior secretary for public communication of the presidency, as saying on Tuesday.

High on the agenda is cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic, including the supply of vaccines.

Other key issues expected to be discussed are North Korea, and whether South Korea needs to join the regional security forum Quad.

The US is reportedly moving to expand the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which currently has three other member states: Japan, India and Australia. It is widely viewed as directed against China.

Moon will also attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in the US capital.

It will be his first overseas trip in more than a year. He skipped foreign visits due to the coronavirus pandemic since traveling to China in December 2019.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid