US President Joe Biden met for the first time with President Yoon Seok-yeol. The two leaders met for the first time at Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant, the first scheduled visit to South Korea by President Biden.
President Biden’s limousine, which departed from the US Air Force Base in Osan-si, Gyeonggi-do, arrived at Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant in Gyeonggi-do around 6:05 pm on the 20th. On this day, to welcome Biden, President Yoon arrived around 5:55 p.m. and prepared to meet him.
President Yoon and President Biden met at around 6:12 pm in the lobby of Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant and shook hands warmly. President Biden tapped Yun on the arm and thanked him for his hospitality.
The two leaders took pictures together at the request of reporters and briefly looked at the Samsung semiconductor wafers prepared by Samsung Electronics. After that, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong came out and greeted the two leaders.
President Biden toured Samsung’s Pyeongtaek factory on the same day with President Yoon. Vice Chairman Lee personally carried out the two summits. The two leaders toured the Pyeongtaek semiconductor processing line while listening to explanations from officials at Samsung’s Pyeongtaek plant.
After the tour, the two leaders will also give speeches related to cooperation in high-tech industries such as semiconductors. This is interpreted as symbolically showing that the Korea-US alliance will be upgraded from a military-security-oriented alliance to a comprehensive global alliance that encompasses global supply chain cooperation and economic and security cooperation with this summit as an opportunity.
Reporter Yoo-kyung Jo, Donga.com polaris27@donga.com
