President Yoon Suk Yeol will take a bipartisan parliamentary delegation with him on his state visit to the United States this month, an official said Thursday.
Yoon is set to hold a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 26 and address a joint session of the U.S. Congress the next day as the two countries mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance this year.
“Members of the National Assembly will accompany President Yoon on his visit to the United States as members of a special entourage,” Kim Eun-hye, senior presidential secretary for press affairs, told reporters.
“We look forward to the members playing a considerable role vis-a-vis the U.S. Congress and broader nation for the sake of the national interest,” she said.
A senior presidential official said the delegation will include lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party, though the names have not been finalized yet.
The presidential office has been reaching out mainly to lawmakers of the Parliamentary Diplomatic Forum on the U.S. to survey their interest in accompanying Yoon to Washington.
A formal parliamentary body promoting exchanges between the two countries’ legislatures — similar to the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians’ Union — could also be launched as a result of the state visit.
Yoon was invited to deliver the address before Congress during a meeting with a visiting U.S. Congressional delegation led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Wednesday.
The office of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to send a formal invitation letter to the South Korean government later Thursday, Kim said.
Meanwhile, a large number of South Korean business executives are expected to accompany Yoon to Washington.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other chiefs of conglomerates have been cited as possible members of the business delegation.
Source: Yonhap News Agency