Seoul and Washington have launched discussions to set a date for a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump, South Korea’s Foreign Minister said Friday.
The latest talks follow US President Donald Trump’s remark that his first summit with Lee would take place in the White House “within two weeks,” shared the previous day via Truth Social.
"(The two sides) are coordinating to set a date (for the summit)," Cho said during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Washington.
Cho added that the “content” of the summit would be jointly discussed and planned between Seoul and Washington “at the working level.”
Ahead of his meeting with the press, Cho held his first talks with his counterpart, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The top diplomats discussed key issues, including the trade deal reached between Seoul and Washington, and the allies’ security commitment to defend peace on the Korean Peninsula against North Korean threats, according to Cho and the US Department of State.
On Thursday, the two countries reached a trade agreement in which the US will impose 15 percent tariffs on South Korean goods, down from the initially proposed 25 percent. In exchange, South Korea would invest $350 billion in several US economic sectors.
A high-ranking Seoul official, requesting anonymity, told reporters that the discussions for the summit are still at an early stage. “(So far,) the discussions have addressed only the potential dates (for the summit) -- it is expected to take a little more time,” the official said. The official added that it would be difficult to confirm at the moment whether the summit would take place within the two-week timeframe mentioned by Trump.
However, Seoul and Washington agree that the summit agenda should include ways to develop and steer the decadesold alliance towards a “comprehensive” and “future-oriented” partnership, the official said.
As for Trump's possible attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit set to take place in the South Korean city of Gyeongju from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, Rubio told Cho that he is fully aware of the event and plans to actively review the matter, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said. The White House has not announced whether Trump will join. South Korea's presidential office last month sent out invitation letters to the leaders of the 21 APEC member economies, including the US, China, Russia and Japan.
Cho also told reporters that he was able to deliver and explain the Lee administration’s foreign policy stance to officials in Washington and that both sides agreed to work toward alleviating tensions on the peninsula.
“(Seoul and Washington) will make comprehensive efforts to move in the direction of alleviating tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho said. “(South Korea) plans to closely coordinate with the US in the process and pursue (that goal) with US support.”
With the Lee administration seeking to improve inter-Korean relations, there have been discussions in Seoul in recent days about adjusting the annual South Korea-US joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield, scheduled for mid-August.
Seoul’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told reporters on Monday he plans to suggest such adjustments to Lee, but the Defense Ministry said the following day that no changes have yet been made to the scheduled drills.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, recently denounced Lee by saying that he “is no different from his predecessor in blindly adhering to the South Korea-US alliance” in a statement released through Pyongyang's state media.
She denounced the South Korea-US joint military exercises as "aggressive," and claimed that the decadesold allies will attempt to blame the "deteriorating" security situation on Pyongyang. The North has routinely condemned the joint military drills as a provocation and a rehearsal for invasion.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
