(LEAD) Yoon says S. Korea-U.S.-Japan summit to take place in Southeast Asia

All News 11:38 November 10, 2022

(ATTN: UPDATES with more remarks by Yoon; ADDS photo)
By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday he will hold a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of upcoming regional gatherings in Southeast Asia.

Yoon is set to leave Friday on a six-day trip that will take him first to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for regional summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and then to Bali, Indonesia, for a summit of the Group of 20.

"There are various important bilateral meetings at such multilateral conferences," he told reporters as he arrived for work. "A South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit has been fixed, and several other bilateral meetings are either fixed or under discussion."

Yoon said he thought hard about whether he should attend the summits at a time when the nation is grieving over the deadly Itaewon crowd crush but decided to go ahead because these are important events that impact people's economic activities and interests.

"As you all know, ASEAN is a coalition of Southeast Asian nations, and it's a region that is drawing attention as many countries, including many economic powers, have accepted ASEAN's centrality," he said, noting 50 percent of the world's cargo travels through the region, while tens of thousands of South Korean businesses invest there.

"As president of our country, I decided that it was inevitable for me to attend the meetings in order to soundly support our businesses' economic activities."