President Yoon Suk Yeol waves his hand as he embarks on the Air Force One on Thursday. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol left South Korea on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, or APEC summit, in Lima, Peru, later this week.

Lima will be the first stop of Yoon's first official visit to South America since he was inaugurated in May 2022. After attending the APEC summit, Yoon will fly to Rio de Janeiro for the Group of 20 summit.

Yoon boarded Air Force One at 11:48 a.m. at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. In attendance were the ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon, Deputy National Assembly Speaker Rep. Joo Ho-young, Yoon's Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk, among others.

Earlier Thursday, Yoon's office announced the South Korean leader would meet US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Lima on Friday, on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

The in-person trilateral meeting will serve as a follow-up to an August 2023 meeting at Camp David, Maryland. Yoon met Biden and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mainly to enshrine three-way cooperation under the Washington Declaration to counter the geopolitical threat in Northeast Asia arising primarily from North Korea's military provocations and nuclear threats.

Before he departed South Korea, Yoon highlighted Latin America's “strategic importance” in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE.

Yoon told EFE in a written interview Thursday that the visit to Peru, alongside his official meeting with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, is "highly significant in the expansion of Korea's vision as a ‘Global Pivotal State’" toward Latin America.

"The recent rise of protectionism and worsening instability in global supply chains has increased the strategic importance of Latin America, which has abundant resources,” he added.

Yoon is set to attend the first session of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Friday.

Later, Yoon will also attend a lunch meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council and deliver a keynote address to the APEC CEO Summit during a handover ceremony. South Korea is set to host the 2025 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

Yoon will attend a gala dinner for APEC leaders the same day.

On Saturday, Yoon will attend the second session of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, followed by a summit with his Peruvian counterpart.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser, told reporters that Yoon will express his intention to foster a free and robust environment for global trade and investment.

Yoon will introduce digital technologies that can support the underprivileged and promote shared benefits through eco-friendly technologies and artificial intelligence, while promoting the solidarity of all APEC members, Kim said.

Yoon will depart Peru on Sunday.