Lee holds summit talks with Belgium, EU leaders to expand foothold in European market

President Lee Jae-myung is holding back-to-back summit talks Wednesday with the Belgian prime minister and the president of the European Council on the second day of his European trip for the G7 summit.

Lee met Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever in the morning and then held a separate audience with King Philippe.

The meetings mark Lee's first encounters with Belgian leaders since taking office, and the two sides are expected to discuss ways to expand cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises and to secure stable access for South Korean companies to the European market.

In the afternoon, Lee is scheduled to hold summit talks with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, followed by an agreement signing ceremony.

The EU is the world's largest trading bloc and South Korea's third-largest trading partner. The 27-member bloc, with a population of 450 million, has a gross domestic product of roughly 18 trillion euros (approximately $20.8 trillion).

South Korea and the EU maintain a trade relationship worth around $130 billion, underpinned by a free trade agreement, with bilateral goods trade hitting a record high last year. Wednesday's summit is the first time a South Korean president has visited Brussels for talks with EU leaders in eight years.

Lee plans to use the visit to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in the Middle East and issues related to peace on the Korean Peninsula, while also expanding security cooperation with the EU.

Building on the Security and Defense Partnership the two sides adopted in 2024, Seoul intends to secure closer intelligence sharing from the EU and strengthen cooperation on countering transnational crimes such as drug trafficking and terrorism.

The two sides also plan to explore ways to coordinate on energy, supply chain stability and critical minerals amid growing global uncertainty stemming from conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.

After completing his schedule in Brussels, Lee will depart Belgium Wednesday evening for Rome, the second stop on his trip.

Before the summit meetings, Lee met with members of the Korean diaspora in Belgium and pledged to show them "a better South Korea, different from what it has been until now."

At a gathering with the local Korean community shortly after arriving in Belgium on Tuesday, Lee said perceptions of South Korea had changed "dramatically in a short time." "Wasn't it a poor country that struggled on foreign aid, and then one day it suddenly surged ahead economically, and now it feels like a cultural center of the world? That is truly remarkable progress," he said.

He added that South Korea must go even further. "I believe in the potential of this country," he said. "South Korea must actively support you in achieving the goals you set for yourselves. There are things we can do through policy, and I believe the most important support of all is building up the nation's standing in the world."

On the role of overseas diplomatic missions, Lee said they should go beyond handling government-to-government affairs and serve as a platform for cultural and industrial outreach as well as for Koreans living abroad.