Lee to meet Trump in Washington
President Lee Jae-Myung will travel to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, Lee's office said, for talks on trade and defence cooperation in the face of nuclear-armed North Korea and other threats.
Their Aug 25 summit will follow a July trade deal in which Washington agreed to cut its reciprocal tariff on South Korea to 15% from 25% and apply the same reduced rate to South Korean cars, the country's top export to the United States.
South Korea also agreed to purchase US$100bil (RM423.2bil) in US energy and invest US$350bil (RM1.48 trillion) in the country, and Lee and Trump may discuss how the investment package will be structured and managed.
The talks are expected to cover expanding cooperation in key industries such as semiconductors, batteries and shipbuilding, Lee's spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.
Lee, a liberal who won an early election in June to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk-yeol, has made the economy his top priority, aiming to shield the trade-dependent nation from the shocks of Trump's tariff hikes and his demands that allies cut reliance on Washington and shoulder more of their own defence costs.
Lee's meeting with Trump comes amid concerns in Seoul that the Trump administration could shake up the decades-old alliance by demanding higher payments for the US troop presence in South Korea and possibly move to reduce it as Washington shifts more focus on China.
Lee and Trump will discuss strengthening the allies' defence posture against growing North Korean threats, and developing the partnership into a 'future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance' to address the changing international security and economic environment, according to Kang, who didn't elaborate on the specific issues to be addressed.
During his first term, Trump suspended US military exercises with South Korea while pursuing diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
They met three times in 2018 and 2019 but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements about exchanging the release of US-led sanctions against the North. — AP
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