President Lee Jae-myung and the First Lady board Air Force One, seen off by Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, and others.

President Lee will attend the UN General Assembly in New York from today (September 21) to September 27 on a seven-day, five-night trip, followed by a state visit to Mexico for a South Korea-Mexico summit.

In the early morning hours the day after tomorrow (Korea time), he is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the UN General Assembly on the direction of UN reform and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

President Lee subsequently plans to meet with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and hold bilateral summits with leaders of various countries.

Attention is particularly focused on whether he will meet separately with U.S. President Trump to discuss the issue of South Korean investment in the United States, which is experiencing last-minute friction.

[Wi Sung-lac | Director of the National Security Office]
"There will be separate contacts in various formats with leaders of key nations, including the United States and Australia. We plan to discuss ways to cooperate to advance our national interests."

A senior presidential official told SBS that while the South Korean government is demanding that "commercial rationality" be upheld, the U.S. government maintains that investment must come first, leaving the investment negotiations in a last-minute deadlock.

President Lee also indicated during a press conference on September 18 that differences remain over certain issues in the final stages.

[Press Conference on September 18]
"It is said that an agreement has almost been reached, but when I reviewed the details, there were parts that were difficult to agree with, so we are discussing them again."

Amid concerns in some corners of the government that the negotiations themselves could potentially fall through, attention is focused on whether President Lee's pragmatic diplomacy centered on national interests can achieve a breakthrough.

Kang Cheongwan, SBS.