Yoon wraps up European trip securing stronger bonds with NATO, Kyiv

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol enters the 2023 NATO Summit at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Convention Center in Vilnius, July 12 (local time). Joint Press Corps

Domestic downpour overshadows president's trip to Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine

By Nam Hyun-woo

WARSAW, Poland ― President Yoon Suk Yeol wrapped up his trip to three central European nations, Sunday (local time), during which he signaled Seoul's stronger bonds with NATO and Ukraine.

While Yoon was attending the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday in yet another act of defiance.

Following the summit and attending engagements in Poland, Yoon paid a surprise visit to Ukraine to discuss cooperation in reconstructing the war-torn nation.

Yoon attended the summit session between NATO members and their Indo-Pacific partner countries, Tuesday, stressing that the security of the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic regions is inseparable, and claiming that North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions are also a threat for European nations.

The campaign gained momentum in the wake of the North's latest missile launch with Yoon noting that the missile could strike even Vilnius, calling on participating countries to raise their voice against the provocation. NATO also adopted its own communique expressing a strong condemnation of the North for the launch.

On the sidelines of the NATO Summit, Korea signed renewed partnership programs with NATO and announced its plan to join NATO's intelligence-sharing framework, known as Battlefield Information Collection Exploitation System (BICES).

Yoon had bilateral meetings with leaders from 13 countries, including Japan. During the summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Yoon requested Japan to let South Korean experts participate in the process of Tokyo's planned release of treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Yoon then made an official visit to Poland, Wednesday, where he focused on expanding South Korea's partnerships with Poland in the fields of defense, nuclear energy and cooperation for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction projects.

During his summit with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Thursday, the two countries signed an MOU on their partnership in supporting Ukraine's reconstruction projects. The leaders both attended business forums to encourage exchanges between companies of the two countries.

The highlight of the trip, however, came after Yoon finished his preannounced six-day schedule, as he redirected his itinerary to Ukraine.

Yoon was invited to visit Ukraine during Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska's visit to Seoul in May, and the presidential office had been reviewing this while preparing for the NATO summit. Yoon made the decision during his trip and reportedly asked for Poland's help for his visit to Ukraine during the summit with Polish President Duda, who offered a safe route via train to Ukraine.

Only a limited number of presidential staff knew about this as it was kept secret even to most staffers until just hours before his departure to Ukraine.

During his summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Yoon expressed Korea's empathic support of Kyiv and promised expanded military, humanitarian and educational aid to the country. Zelenskyy responded by asking for South Korea's participation in the country's restoration projects.

The summit became a diplomatic gesture to showcase to the world that South Korea is part of the international community supporting Ukraine and condemning Russia, which Yoon has reiterated in his diplomatic addresses in recent months. Also, it was seen as a proactive move to show Seoul's strong interest in Kyiv's post-war reconstruction projects, which are anticipated to incur huge capital injections.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after their summit at Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Saturday (local time). Courtesy of Korea's presidential office

Uncomfortable way back home

Despite the achievements, however, Yoon left Europe with domestic issues ahead of him, due to the torrential rain that has killed at least 37 people so far and caused thousands to evacuate their homes across South Korea.

The Korea Railroad Corp. suspended all regular trains and some KTX high-speed trains that run through the country's central inland region due to heavy rains before resuming KTX train services in some sectors later Saturday.

In response, Yoon held a videoconference with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo directly after his summit with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and asked to “mobilize all assets of the military, police and the government to minimize damage.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks to his aides during a meeting on Korea's heavy downpour on a train from Ukraine to Poland, Saturday (local time). Courtesy of presidential office

The presidential office also released photos of Yoon holding an emergency meeting with his aides while in transit back to Poland, with the intention of sending a message to the public that the president is paying attention to the domestic situation.

Despite presidential office efforts, public sentiment is focused more on the heavy rain and subsequent damages than Yoon's NATO diplomacy. The opposition is calling into question Yoon's decision to extend his trip and visit Ukraine despite the domestic disaster.

“In a situation of disaster where dams overflow, mountains collapse, roads are severed and people are buried or losing their lives due to heavy rain across the country, the president, who should have canceled his schedule and returned immediately, extended his official visit,” main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Kang Min-jung wrote on Facebook.

A senior official at the presidential office said Yoon canceled some of the events scheduled in Ukraine due to the heavy rain and issued orders on the government's emergency response.

“If Yoon did not visit Ukraine at the time, there would be no chance of him visiting Ukraine until the end of the war,” the official said. “Even if Yoon rushes to back to Seoul, there is no room for him to change the situation with the weather, so he tried his best in Ukraine.”

Controversy over a Lithuanian media report that Korea's first lady Kim Geon Hee visited a number of luxury boutiques in Vilnius and purchased multiple goods during Yoon's attendance at the NATO Summit has also become a headache for the presidential office.

The presidential office said Kim stopped by a boutique upon the recommendation of one of the boutique's employees while she was returning from an event, but she did not buy anything.