President Lee returns from vacation to packed agenda of summits, pardons

President Lee Jae Myung waves to citizens as he exits a restaurant in central Seoul, July 11. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung is set to resume state affairs this week after a weeklong summer vacation, with high-profile tasks ahead including National Liberation Day special pardons, preparations for an upcoming Seoul-Washington summit and key personnel appointments.

The presidential office said Sunday that Lee returned to the official residence in Seoul the previous day after completing his holiday at the official presidential retreat residence on Jeodo Island in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.

Upon his return on Saturday, he immediately resumed his official duties, receiving backlogged reports from aides. He ordered all fatal industrial accidents to be reported to him directly and without delay, and instructed the labor ministry to present preventive measures at the next Cabinet meeting.

On Monday, Lee will hold a summit with To Lam, general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party. The Vietnamese leader began his four-day state visit to Korea on Sunday. The summit talks are expected to focus on strengthening bilateral ties, with economic and cultural cooperation at the forefront. This marks the first visit by a foreign head of state since Lee took office in early June.

On the same day, an extraordinary Cabinet meeting will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the presidential office to deliberate on a single issue concerning special pardons and reinstatements. Among those listed as possible recipients of pardons are Cho Kuk, former justice minister and former leader of the minor progressive Rebuilding Korea Party, as well as former lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang.

The Ministry of Justice’s pardon review committee decided Thursday to include them in the National Liberation Day amnesty list. Those pardoned will be released immediately, while reinstatements will restore their political rights, such as eligibility to run for office.

On Friday, National Liberation Day, the government will host a public celebration at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, marking both the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation and Lee’s official inauguration ceremony. The event will be open to all Korean citizens.

President Lee Jae Myung takes the oath of office during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul, June 4. Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon.

Lee began his presidential duties on June 4 with only a swearing-in ceremony and a small number of guests at the National Assembly, foregoing a separate inauguration. Former Presidents Moon Jae-in, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, as well as opposition leaders, have been invited to the Friday event, dubbed the "people's appointment ceremony" by the presidential office. However, former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee were excluded due to their detention and ongoing investigations.

Later this month, Lee is expected to hold his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, with Aug. 25 largely anticipated as the most likely date for the meeting. Negotiations are ongoing to finalize the agenda and confirm the schedule.

The bilateral meeting is expected to address the agenda of the two countries' defense cost-sharing agreement and “alliance modernization,” which refers to expanding the Korea-U.S. alliance from a North Korea-focused deterrence posture to a broader Indo-Pacific framework.

Remaining details for tariff negotiations are also on the table. Earlier, the two countries agreed to cut U.S. tariffs on Korean products from 25 percent to 15 percent and for Korea to invest $350 billion plus additional funds in the United States.

Lee may also meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of the U.S. summit, with Japanese media reporting that the two sides are discussing a potential bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 23.

Meanwhile, final appointments for unfilled posts in the Lee administration, including the ministers of education and gender equality and family, as well as the chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, could also be announced soon.