South Korea's president departs for Türkiye to attend NATO summit

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed Tuesday for Türkiye to attend the NATO summit in Ankara, local media reported.

Lee's visit to Türkiye is part of a two-country tour that will continue with a stop in Mongolia, said Yonhap News Agency.

The presidential aircraft carrying Lee took off from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam en route to Ankara, where the leaders of NATO's 32 member countries, including US President Donald Trump, will gather for the summit from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Türkiye will host a NATO summit for the first time in 22 years, bringing world leaders to Ankara at a time of deepening security challenges and shifting burden-sharing within the alliance.

Following the 2004 NATO Istanbul Summit, which became one of the key meetings in the alliance's post-Cold War transformation, Türkiye will once again host NATO leaders in what officials describe as an "age of uncertainties."

Lee will attend the summit at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

He will also hold a meeting with representatives of Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- the three countries that together with South Korea make up NATO's Indo-Pacific Four (IP4).

From Thursday to Saturday, Lee will pay a state visit to Mongolia at the invitation of President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.

His trip will begin with a summit with the Mongolian leader on the first day.

Lee's scheduled visit to Mongolia will mark the first visit by a South Korean president to the country in 15 years.