(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-15 15:39

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his wife Kim Yoon-ok wave to wellwishers as they leave for the United States at the Seoul Military Airport in Seongnam, South Korea, April 15, 2008. [Agencies]

SEOUL, South Korea -- New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has departed for the United States on his first overseas trip.

Lee hopes to "further strengthen the traditional friendly relations with the US," according to a statement released the president's office before he left Tuesday. The South Korean president will meet US President George W. Bush later this week.

The conservative Lee has vowed to restore the half-century alliance with the US that frayed during a decade of liberal South Korean governments, mainly over differences on dealing with North Korea.

After the US, Lee heads to Japan, former colonial occupiers of the Korean peninsula. The neighbors have also had sometime-turbulent relations over their shared history.