Lee set to attend G7 summit in France; Trump meeting uncertain

President Lee Jae Myung was set to attend a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Tuesday, joining discussions on the wars in Ukraine and Iran, as well as other pending global challenges, as the leader of an invited partner country.

This marks the second consecutive year Korea has been invited to the G7 summit.

France has invited non-G7 nations, including Brazil, Egypt, India and Kenya, to help shape coordinated responses to global challenges, such as the wars in Ukraine and Iran, global financial instability and risks associated with AI.

Lee is scheduled to join G7 leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks on such issues.

The Korean president is also expected to hold bilateral summit talks with some of the participating leaders, but whether he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump remains uncertain.

A presidential official said the office is leaving the door open to a Lee-Trump meeting, but no concrete progress has been made in arranging one.

On his first day attending the G7 summit, Lee will attend the event's first expanded session, themed "Forging new partnerships and rebuilding international solidarity," the presidential office said.

Participating leaders plan to discuss joint efforts to address the decline in international development aid flows.

Lee, in particular, plans to stress the need to forge partnerships between development donors, including G7 member countries, and recipients, while emphasizing efforts to prevent AI gaps among countries from widening economic disparities, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.

Yonhap