South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed Monday for Johannesburg to attend the Group of 20 (G20) Summit, kicking off a four-nation tour aimed at strengthening Seoul’s engagement with the Middle East, Africa, and the broader Global South.

The first stop on Lee’s trip is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he will land in Abu Dhabi later in the day for a three-day state visit. According to Yonhap news agency, Lee will hold summit talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to advance cooperation in defense manufacturing, artificial intelligence, energy security, and other strategic sectors.

Following his UAE visit, Lee will travel to Cairo for a three-day official engagement in Egypt. He is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and deliver a keynote address at Cairo University outlining South Korea’s vision for deeper partnerships across the Middle East.

President Lee will then head to Johannesburg, South Africa, to participate in the G20 Summit on Saturday and Sunday. He is expected to highlight South Korea’s commitment to promoting inclusive and sustainable global growth, tackling climate change, enhancing supply chain resilience, and strengthening digital transformation initiatives.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Lee will also meet leaders of MIKTA — a consultative group of middle-power nations comprising South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, and Australia — to discuss shared policy priorities and collaborative solutions to global challenges.

The final leg of Lee’s overseas tour will take him to Ankara for a state visit to Turkey, where he will hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Discussions are expected to focus on expanding bilateral cooperation in defense technology, infrastructure, and advanced industries. Lee is set to return home on November 26.

National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Friday that the president’s visits to the UAE, Egypt, and Turkey are expected to deliver “practical outcomes” in areas such as the defense industry and artificial intelligence under Lee’s pragmatic diplomacy approach.

Wi added that the tour — Lee’s first to the Middle East and Africa since taking office in June — will lay the foundation for Seoul’s long-term outreach to the Global South, encompassing developing nations across Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Lee’s participation in the G20 Summit follows his appearance at the G7 meeting in Canada in June and his hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in October, marking the final major multilateral engagement of the year.