Moon to visit U.S. next week for annual U.N. session: Cheong Wa Dae

 South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit New York next week to attend an annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, his office announced Monday.

Moon is scheduled to depart for the United States on Sunday. He will deliver a keynote speech at the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly and address the opening ceremony of the Sustainable Development Goals Moment (SDG Moment) event, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.

The SDG Moment, launched last year, is designed to reinvigorate efforts to achieve the U.N.-led goals adopted in 2015.

This year, especially, the two Koreas commemorate the 30th anniversary of becoming U.N. member states simultaneously, she said.

“President Moon’s attendance at the U.N. General Assembly is expected to serve as a chance for reaffirming the international community’s support for efforts to make progress in the Korean Peninsula peace (process),” Park said in a statement.

It is also expected to help shed light on Seoul’s activity and contribution for international peace and prosperity, she said.

Moon is participating in the U.N. meeting for the fifth consecutive year. He did so via video conference last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president plans to hold bilateral summits with some of his foreign counterparts, in addition to a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the U.N. session, Park added without elaborating.

Moon will then make a stopover in Honolulu, Hawaii, on his way back home, where he will join a ceremony for the transfer of the remains of South Korean and American troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

It will offer an opportunity to reaffirm the robust South Korea-U.S. alliance and make clear the state’s commitment to “unlimited responsibility” for those who sacrificed for the country, according to Park.

Moon is to return to Seoul on Thursday.