President of Israel Reuven Rivlin will make an official visit to Korea July 14-18 at the invitation of President Moon Jae-in.

President Moon will hold a summit with President Rivlin on the morning of July 15 and subsequently host a luncheon. It will be the first visit to Korea by an Israeli president in nine years after a visit by President Shimon Peres in 2010.

As a country world-renowned for innovative startups, Israel has strengths in advanced original technologies and software development, so there is considerable room for mutually beneficial cooperation in future industries between the two countries to prepare for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

During the summit, the two Presidents will review progress in their countries’ bilateral cooperative relations over the past half century since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1962 and have extensive discussions on various issues, including the Korea-Israel FTA; people-to-people and cultural exchanges; and the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East.

Moreover, the two leaders are expected to have in-depth discussions on ways to strengthen substantive future-oriented cooperation in high-tech fields such as creating a startup ecosystem, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving vehicles, 5G and information and telecommunication technology.   

The upcoming visit by the Israeli President is expected to serve as an opportunity to further diversify Korea’s diplomatic horizon in the Middle East, building on the recent visits by heads of state or government and other principal leaders from major Arab nations.