United Kingdom: South Korean President Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the United Kingdom in November after receiving an invitation from King Charles III. The King and Queen Camilla will welcome the South Korean President and his wife Ms. Kim Keon Hee at Buckingham Palace.
It will be the second incoming state visit during the King’s reign, following South Africa’s President Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa in November 2022. The King and Queen have just returned from a three-day state visit to France.
The details of Mr. Yoon’s UK state visit have not been released. However, the trip will most probably follow convention with a ceremonial welcome and carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, followed by a state banquet on the first evening. State visits usually begin with a welcome from the king and other members of the royal family, with the visitors inspecting the guard of honour before riding to the palace in a procession of carriages accompanied by mounted soldiers.
The King and the South Korean president met previously at the reception for heads of state and official overseas guests at the palace on the eve of Elizabeth II’s funeral. Mr. Yoon was criticised across the South Korean political spectrum for not visiting the late queen’s coffin lying in state. The South Korean President justified his absence by citing heavy traffic as the reason.
Mr. Yoon visited the US in April and attended a White House dinner at the request of President Joe Biden. The trip witnessed Mr. Yoon secure a landmark deal with the US to counter the North Korean nuclear threat.
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