Home > National > Diplomacy

Lee, Italian PM Meloni to hold summit talks Jan. 19

Published: 09 Jan. 2026, 15:30

Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before their talks at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 24, 2025, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will hold summit talks on Jan. 19, as the two nations seek to promote cooperation in trade, investment, AI and other cutting-edge technologies, the Blue House said Friday.

Meloni will pay a three-day visit to Korea beginning Jan. 17, the first time in 19 years that an Italian leader is visiting Seoul for bilateral summit talks.

Lee and Meloni are scheduled to hold their summit and an official luncheon meeting on Jan. 19.

The two leaders are expected to discuss ways to bolster cooperation in areas of trade and investment, AI, defense and semiconductors, among others.

Italy is Korea's fourth-largest trading partner in the European Union and is visited by roughly 1 million Koreans annually, according to the Blue House.

Yonhap