President Lee Jae-myung will hold a summit with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Blue House on the 29th to discuss expanding cooperation in trade and investment, future industries such as artificial intelligence, and defense and the arms industry.
Presidential Senior Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing on the 23rd that Merz will make an official visit to South Korea on the 29th and 30th, timed to his attendance at the 19th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2026) in Seoul. It is the first official visit to the country by a German chancellor in three years, and the first since Merz took office.
The two leaders will hold the summit on the afternoon of the 29th, followed by a joint press announcement and an official dinner. It will be their third meeting, after talks held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit last November and the Group of Seven summit in June this year.
The talks will focus on expanding economic cooperation, including trade and investment, and on strengthening cooperation in advanced industries such as batteries, semiconductors and AI. The two sides will also exchange views broadly on defense and arms industry cooperation, expanded people-to-people exchanges, regional developments and major international issues.
Germany is South Korea's largest trading partner in Europe and a key economic partner. About 850 South Korean companies currently operate in Germany, with major firms running their European regional headquarters there.
The Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business, which Merz will attend during his visit, is a major public-private event hosted by German business circles to explore expanded economic cooperation between Germany and the Asia-Pacific region. This year's conference runs from the 29th to the 31st in Seoul, the first time it has been held in South Korea in 19 years, since 2007.
"We expect this summit to serve as an opportunity for relations between the two countries to advance another step in a strategic and future-oriented direction," Kang said.