By Do Je-hae
The leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, will visit the United States Saturday for talks with senior politicians and diplomats.
During his seven-day trip, he will meet with United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon.
Kim's office is also organizing meetings with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives.
Although he hinted that the U.S. trip is a routine diplomatic effort, media reports are seeing it as part of his plan to eventually run for president.
President Park Geun-hye also made a trip to the U.S. in 2005, when she was considered a major presidential candidate of the then-ruling Grand National Party. She met with then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other dignitaries at the time.
Kim will visit Washington D.C., New York and Los Angeles. He will hold a special lecture at Columbia University and visit think-tanks, such as the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Brookings Institute.
His entourage will include Rep. Na Kyung-won, chairwoman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee; Rep. Kim Jong-hoon, head of the Saenuri Party's International Committee; and Rep. Shim Yoon-joe, head of the party's committee for overseas Koreans.
The leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, will visit the United States Saturday for talks with senior politicians and diplomats.
During his seven-day trip, he will meet with United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon.
Kim's office is also organizing meetings with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives.
Although he hinted that the U.S. trip is a routine diplomatic effort, media reports are seeing it as part of his plan to eventually run for president.
President Park Geun-hye also made a trip to the U.S. in 2005, when she was considered a major presidential candidate of the then-ruling Grand National Party. She met with then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other dignitaries at the time.
Kim will visit Washington D.C., New York and Los Angeles. He will hold a special lecture at Columbia University and visit think-tanks, such as the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Brookings Institute.
His entourage will include Rep. Na Kyung-won, chairwoman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee; Rep. Kim Jong-hoon, head of the Saenuri Party's International Committee; and Rep. Shim Yoon-joe, head of the party's committee for overseas Koreans.
