— President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed his aides Monday to prepare all future overseas trips with a focus on business issues, his office said.
Yoon gave the instruction during a weekly meeting with his aides, saying the only exception should be key national security issues, such as security cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung.
Yoon returned last week from a six-day trip to Cambodia and Indonesia where he attended regional gatherings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Group of 20.
“President Yoon stressed that the reason for going on overseas trips is to be of help to the national interest, such as by creating jobs through businesses’ overseas expansion,” Lee told reporters.
During a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Yoon said he will personally make sure his summit meetings with foreign leaders bear concrete results through strategies tailored to specific regions and nations, and that he will preside over an export strategy meeting later this week.
He also told the prime minister to do his best to thoroughly assist every last victim and bereaved family member in connection with the Itaewon crowd crush.
He further stressed the importance of investigating and determining the truth behind the tragedy so that the victims’ families receive the compensation they deserve.
Source: Yonhap News Agency