Lee embarks on 8-night, 10-day Europe tour as 'diplomacy season' begins

President Lee Jae Myung departed from Seoul Airport on Tuesday for an 8-night, 10-day European tour.

Having wrapped up major domestic matters — including local elections and a first-anniversary press conference — Lee is using the trip to reset his agenda for his second year in office and reinvigorate his summit diplomacy.

"This is my first visit to Europe since taking office," Lee wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "It is a journey to broaden the horizon of cooperation amid the global polycrisis and to further solidify the foundations of our economy and diplomacy."

Building on diplomatic groundwork laid during his first year in office, Lee aims to expand South Korea's diplomatic stage beyond the United States and Japan into Europe, and to cement the country's standing as a major global power in the "G7-plus" framework.

Lee will begin his European schedule in Brussels, Belgium, with a dinner meeting with the Korean diaspora. He is set to hold summit talks with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and meet with King Philippe, before sitting down with EU leaders for talks and a treaty-signing ceremony.

Lee travels to Rome on Wednesday local time for a state visit to Italy that runs through Saturday. He will hold summit talks with President Sergio Mattarella and conduct his third official meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

During the Italy visit, Lee is expected to adopt the "2026–2030 Korea-Italy Strategic Action Plan," a blueprint for bilateral relations. A business roundtable bringing together companies in the semiconductor, aerospace, energy and biotech sectors will also be held to broaden the economic cooperation base between the two countries.

From Sunday, Lee will carry out his Vatican schedule. He will attend a special Mass at St. Paul's Basilica before holding separate meetings with Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

The final leg of the tour is the G7 summit in Évian, France. However, a bilateral summit between Lee and the US president on the sidelines of the G7 has not yet been confirmed.

At the airport send-off, the absence of Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Jung Chung-rae and floor leader Han Byung-do drew notice. At his press conference Monday, Lee had described the outcome of the June 3 local elections as "at least not a success," adding that "the opposition must thrust the spear well, but the ruling party must be the vessel." Some observers suggested the ruling party leadership may have stayed away out of a sense of responsibility for the election results.

Cheong Wa Dae said the number of attendees at the send-off — including presidential office and cabinet officials — had been kept to a minimum "in consideration of the domestic situation, including the prolonged war in the Middle East and the need to respond to the election commission's management failures."