South Korean President Lee will journey to Washington for Aug. 25 assembly with Trump

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s new President Lee Jae Myung will journey to Washington later this month to fulfill with U.S. President Donald Trump, Lee’s workplace mentioned Tuesday, for talks on commerce and protection cooperation within the face of nuclear-armed North Korea and different threats.

Their Aug. 25 summit will observe a July commerce deal wherein Washington agreed to chop its reciprocal tariff on South Korea to fifteen% from the initially proposed 25% and to use the identical diminished price to South Korean vehicles, the nation’s high export to the United States.

South Korea additionally agreed to buy $100 billion in U.S. vitality and make investments $350 billion within the nation, and Lee and Trump might talk about how the funding bundle shall be structured and managed. The talks are anticipated to cowl increasing cooperation in key industries equivalent to semiconductors, batteries and shipbuilding, Lee’s spokesperson Kang Yu-jung mentioned.

Lee, a liberal who gained an early election in June to exchange ousted conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, has made the financial system his high precedence, aiming to protect the trade-dependent nation from the shocks of Trump’s tariff hikes and his calls for that allies minimize reliance on Washington and shoulder extra of their very own protection prices.

Lee’s assembly with Trump comes amid issues in Seoul that the Trump administration may shake up the decades-old alliance by demanding larger funds for the U.S. troop presence in South Korea and presumably transfer to cut back it as Washington shifts extra concentrate on China.

Lee and Trump will talk about strengthening the allies’ protection posture towards rising North Korean threats, and likewise creating the partnership right into a “future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance” to handle the altering worldwide safety and financial surroundings, in line with Kang, who didn’t elaborate on the precise points to be addressed.

Dating again to his first time period, Trump has repeatedly known as for South Korea to pay extra for the 28,500 American troops stationed on its soil. Recent feedback by key Trump administration officers, together with Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, have additionally instructed a want to restructure the alliance, which some consultants say may doubtlessly have an effect on the scale and position of U.S. forces in South Korea.

Under this strategy, South Korea would take a larger position in countering North Korean threats whereas U.S. forces focus extra on China, presumably leaving Seoul to face diminished advantages however elevated prices and dangers, consultants say.

In a gathering with South Korean reporters final week, Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, confused the necessity to “modernize” the alliance to handle the evolving safety surroundings, together with North Korea’s increasing nuclear program, its deepening alignment with Russia, and what he known as Chinese threats to a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”

When requested a few potential discount in U.S. troops in South Korea, Brunson emphasised capabilities over numbers, highlighting superior programs like fifth-generation fighters, and likewise confused strategic flexibility, citing the latest deployment of Patriot air protection programs from South Korea to the Middle East.

“What’s being asked of Korea is to be stronger against DPRK — that we might have the flexibility as we modernize our alliance so that we could go do other things,” Brunson mentioned, utilizing the initials of North Korea’s formal title, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

During his first time period, Trump suspended U.S. army workout routines with South Korea whereas pursuing diplomacy with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un. They met 3 times in 2018 and 2019 however their diplomacy shortly collapsed over disagreements about exchanging the discharge of U.S.-led sanctions towards the North and the North’s steps to wind down its nuclear and missile program.

Kim has since suspended nearly all diplomacy with Washington and Seoul whereas accelerating the enlargement of his weapons program. His overseas coverage precedence is now Russia, which he has provided with weapons and troops to assist extend Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kim’s highly effective sister not too long ago dismissed Washington and Seoul’s acknowledged needs to restart diplomacy aimed toward defusing the North’s nuclear program, indicating that Pyongyang feels no urgency to renew diplomacy with South Korea and the U.S. anytime quickly.

Tensions on the peninsula may rise once more later this month, when South Korea and the United States proceed with their annual large-scale mixed army workout routines, which start on Aug. 18. North Korea labels the allies’ joint drills as invasion rehearsals and sometimes makes use of them as a pretext to dial up army demonstrations and weapons assessments aimed toward advancing its nuclear program.

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