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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed Tuesday for Türkiye to attend the NATO summit in Ankara, local media reported, in the first leg of a two-country trip that will also take him to Mongolia.
Lee's presidential aircraft took off from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam en route to Ankara, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The NATO summit will bring together leaders of the alliance's 32 member countries, including U.S. President Donald Trump, from Tuesday to Wednesday in Türkiye's capital.
Lee will attend the summit at the invitation of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Türkiye is hosting a NATO summit for the first time in 22 years, bringing world leaders to Ankara amid deepening security challenges and shifting burden-sharing within the alliance.
The Ankara gathering follows the 2004 NATO Istanbul Summit, which became one of the key meetings in the alliance's post-Cold War transformation.
Officials have described the current period as an "age of uncertainties" as NATO leaders gather in Ankara.
During the summit, Lee is also expected to meet representatives of Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The three countries, together with South Korea, make up NATO's Indo-Pacific Four, or IP4.
After his visit to Türkiye, Lee will travel to Mongolia from Thursday to Saturday for a state visit at the invitation of President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.
His visit to Mongolia will begin with a summit with the Mongolian leader on the first day.
The trip will mark the first visit by a South Korean president to Mongolia in 15 years.
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