Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, will visit South Korea next week, her first trip there in 11 years, according to a congressional source.

“Rep. Ros-Lehtinen will lead a seven-member delegation of the House to visit Seoul from May 22-25,” the source told Yonhap News Agency on Thursday.

During the trip, coinciding with the Memorial Day recess of Congress, she is expected to meet President Lee Myung-bak, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, added the source.

She will also tour the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone dividing Korea, the source said.

Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida, is considered very conservative on foreign and economic policy.

She is known for her efforts to address North Korean human rights abuses and missile and nuclear weapons development. She also strongly supported a free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea.

She played a key role in the House handling of resolutions on Korea, including the reauthorization of the North Korean Human Rights Act and a resolution on South Korean prisoners of war and civilian abductees still in North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War.

She was also vocal in condemning the North’s two deadly attacks on the South in 2010.

Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1952, she took refuge in the U.S. at the age of 8, along with her family.

Meanwhile, Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-IL) plans to visit South Korea May 20-25 at the invitation of South Korean government. He has served as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific since January 2011. (Yonhap News)