Moon arrives in Germany ahead of G-20

BERLIN -- President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday arrived in Berlin, Germany, for a brief two-day stay before heading to Hamburg for the annual Group of 20 summit.

Having taken off from Seoul Air Base, south of Seoul, at around 8 a.m., the president landed in Berlin’s Tegel Airport at approximately 11:50 a.m.

Moon’s trip to Germany was his second overseas journey since he took office in May, coming right after his recent return from the bilateral summit with US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington.

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook arrive at Berlin's Tegel Airport on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

On his first day, the South Korean leader will meet consecutively with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel, seeking to reconfirm the two countries’ shared view on denuclearizing North Korea. Moon is expected to place focus on Germany’s historic experience of a peaceful unification in 1990.

Moon and his counterpart Merkel will also strengthen the two states’ partnership in the economic sector, vowing for joint efforts in promoting environmentally-friendly renewable energy and nurturing small- and medium-sized companies.

By Bae Hyun-jung
Korea Herald correspondent
(tellme@heraldcorp.com)