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President Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Hye-kyung arrives at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, on October 26 to attend the ASEAN summit. / Source: Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung departed for Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to attend a series of ASEAN-related summits, marking the start of a “super week” of summit diplomacy that will continue through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju early next month. Over the next two weeks, Lee will engage in a flurry of bilateral and multilateral meetings across Malaysia and South Korea.

ASEAN diplomacy kicks off the ‘super week’

Lee’s first stop is Kuala Lumpur, where he will conduct a two-day round of summit meetings with ASEAN leaders—his first participation in ASEAN summits since taking office. With annual trade between Korea and ASEAN reaching $200 billion and people-to-people exchanges surpassing 12 million, ASEAN has become one of Seoul’s key global partners.

Lee aims to further elevate Korea-ASEAN ties while strengthening cooperation in future-oriented sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI). A key agenda item will be forming a cooperative network to combat the recent surge of online scam crimes originating in Cambodia and spreading to other ASEAN countries—a so-called “balloon effect.”

He will also share Korea’s vision for “peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity” on the Korean Peninsula, seeking ASEAN’s support and constructive engagement in realizing that goal.

Lee’s first official meeting will take place on October 27 with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, where the two leaders will discuss advancing the bilateral strategic partnership and coordinating responses to online fraud issues.

Early return to finalize APEC preparations

On the morning of October 27, Lee will present a comprehensive roadmap to deepen the “comprehensive strategic partnership” during the Korea-ASEAN Summit. He will then attend the ASEAN+3 Summit with China and Japan, focusing on narrowing the digital divide and strengthening cooperation on food and energy security.

Lee is also scheduled to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the ASEAN chair, before wrapping up his stay. Although the ASEAN events run through the evening of October 27, the president plans to return home early to finalize preparations for the APEC summit in Gyeongju.