By Kang Hyun-kyung
President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Washington for a six-day state visit to the United States Tuesday (local time) amid reports that U.S. Congress will soon approve a free trade agreement signed with Korea.
On the first day, he will meet Koreans living in the American capital city.
Lee will pay tribute to the fallen soldiers at the Arlington National Cemetery, Wednesday, and visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
After that, he will meet businesspeople at a luncheon hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Lee will hold a summit with his U.S. counterpart President Barack Obama, Thursday, which will be followed by a joint press conference in the afternoon.
The two leaders are expected to reaffirm the Korea-U.S. alliance, which is the strongest ever according to experts, discuss ways to better handle North Korea and Northeast Asian regional security among other agenda items.
The two Presidents are also expected to exchange views on the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) signed in 2007.
After the summit, Lee is scheduled to deliver a speech at Congress. He is the fourth South Korean leader invited to deliver such an address.
Earlier, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner extended a formal invitation to Lee to address a joint session of Congress, which is expected to finalize the ratification of the trade deal the same day.
The free trade agreement will also need endorsement at the National Assembly here to take effect.
Korea signed a similar trade pact with the European Union after it clinched the deal with the U.S. The Korea-EU pact took effect on July 1.
If Congress ratifies the KORUS pact, analysts say this will put pressure on Korean lawmakers.
The ruling Grand National Party has stepped up efforts to ratify the agreement as soon as possible, whereas opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party, demand renegotiations.
On Friday, Lee will have a breakfast meeting with U.S. policy analysts and opinion leaders and then sit down with CNN for an interview before he leaves Washington for Detroit.
Lee will meet with Koreans living in Chicago Saturday before departing for Seoul Sunday.