PUBLISHED ONOctober 29, 2025 10:35 PMBYSean LerPrime Minister Lawrence Wong was one of seven world leaders - including US President Donald Trump - invited to a special dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) economic leaders' meeting.
Held at Gyeongju's Hilton Hotel on Wednesday (Oct 29), the guests included Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong.
In a Facebook post on Oct 29, PM Wong said that the leaders welcomed Trump to the region and had conversations on global developments.
"We had a wide-ranging and engaging conversation on global developments - sharing views on the challenges we face and the opportunities ahead. Always valuable to exchange perspectives with friends and partners from around the world," PM Wong said.
From Gyeongju, PM Wong will head to Seoul on Nov 1 for his official visit.
At the dinner, PM Wong presented President Trump with a customised Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) bomber jacket, similar to the ones worn by Singaporean pilots training in the US.
"Singapore values our security partnership with the US, and I conveyed our deep appreciation for America's longstanding support of our Singapore Armed Forces training in the US," PM Wong said, adding that the jacket is a "small token" of the partnership.
The squadron patch on the right sleeve of the jacket shows a F-35 jet against the Singapore flag.
Singapore has acquired a mixed-fleet of 20 F-35 fighter aircraft, with the first on track to be delivered by the end of 2026.
The RSAF's future F-35 fighter training detachment will be hosted at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
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