Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will make an official visit to South Korea from the 17th to the 19th of this month at the invitation of President Lee Jae-myung, the Blue House announced. Meloni will be the first European leader to visit since the new government was established and the first foreign guest since the Blue House’s return. This marks the first bilateral visit by an Italian Prime Minister in 19 years.
President Lee and Prime Minister Meloni are scheduled to hold a summit and official luncheon on the 19th. The summit will discuss major cooperation areas and international issues with Italy, which is our fourth largest trading partner in the EU and a country visited by about 1 million Koreans annually.
Specifically, they will broadly discuss various fields such as trade and investment, advanced industries and scientific technology cooperation including AI, space, defense, and semiconductors, as well as education and cultural cooperation and human exchanges. President Lee will also request special attention to the safety of the athletes and citizens during the Milan Winter Olympics held in Italy next month.
The Blue House stated that Meloni’s visit will be an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in various fields with Italy, a political, economic, and military powerhouse in Europe and the home of culture and arts. It is also expected to further solidify the ‘strategic partnership’ established between the two countries in 2018.