President Moon Jae-in on Saturday started his nine-day tour to five European states to attend a series of international meetings and bilateral summits with key countries, according to presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

Moon departed from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on Saturday morning, headed for Paris. He will then move on to Italy, Vatican, Belgium, and Denmark.

During the nine-day trip, the president is slated to sit in bilateral summits in France, Italy and Denmark, as well as with the European Union, seeking to build tangible partnership with each of the corresponding states.

The itineraries also include a number of multilateral global agendas, such as the Asia-Europe Meeting in Brussels and the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals -- P4G -- summit in Copenhagen.

The South Korean leader will endeavor to explain the Pyongyang Joint Statement, which was the outcome of the latest third inter-Korean summit held in North Korea, and urge for European states’ understanding and support for Korean Peninsula’s peace and denuclearization, officials said.