WASHINGTON/SEOUL 鈥 South Korea鈥檚 new president, Lee Jae Myung, will face a pivotal moment on Monday when he meets U.S. President聽聽in Washington for their first summit, as the countries鈥 decades-old alliance strains to confront rapid geopolitical changes.
Much is riding on the meeting for Mr. Lee, who took office in June after a snap election called after his conservative predecessor –聽feted in Washington for his hard line on North Korea聽– was removed for attempting to impose martial law.
South Korea鈥檚 economy relies heavily on the U.S., Washington underwrites the country鈥檚 security with troops and nuclear deterrence, and Lee hopes to chart a balanced path of cooperating with the United States while not antagonizing聽top trade partner聽China.
South Korea has long come under targeted criticism from Mr.聽Trump, who has called it a 鈥渕oney machine鈥 that takes advantage of American military protection.
Mr.聽Lee will seek to make a good impression, connect personally with Mr.聽Trump, and above all, avoid any unpleasant surprises, analysts said.
鈥淔or Lee, a no-news summit I think would be good,鈥 said Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
However, Mr.聽Cha said what Mr.聽Trump鈥檚 aides produce for him to talk about at the meeting may be completely different from what President Trump wants to talk about.
Under heavy pressure from Mr.聽Trump鈥檚 administration, South Korean negotiators secured a last-minute deal last month to avoid the harshest of聽聽but must still hammer out details of billions of dollars in promised investments.
South Korean officials say they hope such working-level trade negotiations will largely be left for other meetings.
鈥淭here are many major topics in the security field,鈥 Mr.聽Lee鈥檚 top policy aide, Kim Yong-beom, said on Wednesday. 鈥淥ur position is that trade was already finalized last time. We hope that specific implementation plans for trade won鈥檛 be included in the summit at all, or at least should be kept simple if discussed.鈥
Several top officials, including the foreign minister, rushed to Washington over the weekend to try to iron out final details.
Mr.聽Lee, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, will highlight some of South Korea鈥檚 expected investments when he visits a shipyard in Philadelphia owned by the country鈥檚 Hanwha Group after the summit. Cooperation to help the ailing U.S. shipbuilding sector is part of the broad tariff agreement reached between the countries.
Mr.聽Trump is expected to pressure Lee to commit to more spending on defense, including potentially billions of dollars more toward the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea.
Wi Sung-lac, Mr.聽Lee鈥檚 top security adviser, said South Korea was in talks with Washington on Seoul鈥檚 higher defense spending, taking as a reference NATO鈥檚 agreement on a big new defense spending target. Wi added that the government was also looking into a plan for the purchase of American weapons.
Duyeon Kim, from the Center for a New American Security, said to avoid any public splits, the leaders should focus on reaffirming long-standing alliance principles and broadly agreeing to expand cooperation in all areas.
While focusing on increasing military spending, Mr. Lee will likely seek to avoid conversations about a potential reduction of U.S. troops or using them for a wider range of operations, or details on modernizing the alliance, she said.
鈥淭hey should leave those topics for working-level officials to hash out,鈥 Mr.聽Kim said. 鈥淎mbition could backfire.鈥
Mr.聽Lee said it is difficult for Seoul to accept the demand by the United States to adopt 鈥渇lexibility鈥 of operating the U.S. military now stationed in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday.
Trump and Lee may also discuss efforts to persuade North Korea to freeze and eventually abandon its nuclear weapons program. Both leaders support engaging Pyongyang, and Lee has called for a phased approach to denuclearization.
But North Korea has rejected both American and South Korean overtures so far, and said it will never give up its nuclear arsenal. Leader Kim Jong Un has said the U.S. and South Korea remain hostile to his country and he聽聽test firing of new air defense systems over the weekend.
Before Mr.聽Lee meets Mr.聽Trump, the South Korean leader travelled to Tokyo to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday to underscore the importance of聽聽between South Korea, Japan and the U.S.
Mr. Lee and Mr. Ishiba discussed relations with Washington and U.S. tariff issues and the Japanese leader shared his experience with Mr. Trump, which for Seoul was useful information before Mr. Lee鈥檚 first meeting with Mr. Trump, said Mr. Wi, the South Korean security adviser. 鈥斅Reuters
