South Korea’s Lee set to meet Trump, with trade and security high on agenda

4 hours ago 3

Seoul, South Korea – South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is acceptable to conscionable United States President Donald Trump for the archetypal clip successful a high-stakes sojourn to his country’s closest and astir important ally.

After a one-day gathering with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba successful Tokyo, Lee arrived successful Washington, DC, connected Sunday up of an authoritative working-level gathering astatine the White House with Trump.

It volition beryllium the archetypal clip the 2 heads of authorities meet.

Their acme follows a commercialized woody successful July successful which Washington agreed to chopped its reciprocal tariff connected South Korea to 15 percent from an initially projected 25 percent.

The gathering is important for South Korea, whose engagement with the Trump medication was disrupted by home governmental turmoil, ignited by the little declaration of martial instrumentality announced successful December by the country’s impeached erstwhile president, Yoon Suk-yeol.

Discussion volition absorption connected ironing retired details of the unwritten July commercialized deal, which involves South Korea agreeing to bargain $100bn successful US vigor and put $350bn successful the US economy.

On apical of those dizzying sums are nonstop investments successful the US, which are expected from South Korean companies, and which Trump has mentioned volition beryllium decided during their talks.

Accompanied by archetypal woman Kim Hea-kyung, Lee volition pb a delegation formed by the heads of South Korean apical conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor and LG Group.

The 4 companies unsocial are already known to lend astir 126 trillion won ($91.2bn) successful nonstop investments to the US, according to the South Korean regular Maeil Business Newspaper.

Choi Yoon-jung, a main probe chap astatine the Sejong Institute successful Seoul, said Lee needs to beryllium deliberate and nonstop with Trump successful the talks, arsenic “South Korea is successful a pugnacious predicament successful presumption of commercialized with the US compared to the past”.

“It volition beryllium important for President Lee to explicate however investments volition beryllium designed to service US nationalist interests and to punctual Trump that the 2 nations are adjacent trading partners who went done ample ordeals to realise their Free Trade Agreement implicit 2 decades ago,” Choi told Al Jazeera.

Mason Richey, a prof of planetary authorities astatine the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), said the absorption of the talks connected investments is apt to beryllium “unpredictable”.

“Not lone are the existent 15 percent tariffs overwhelmingly apt to enactment on, but the concern portion of the woody is apt to stay unclear and taxable to unpredictable accommodation by the White House,” Richey told Al Jazeera.

Analysts accidental shipbuilding is 1 country wherever Trump intelligibly desires to person South Korea arsenic a cardinal spouse to play catch-up to China’s naval fleet, which leads successful presumption of sheer numbers and is besides making technological advancements.

Officials successful Seoul person antecedently stated that a cardinal constituent of the tariff woody with Washington would see a concern worthy astir $150bn to assistance successful rebuilding the US shipbuilding industry.

To that end, aft visiting the White House, Lee volition caput to Philadelphia to sojourn the Philly Shipyard, which was bought by the South Korean institution Hanwha Group past year.

Analysts besides accidental that artillery accumulation and semiconductors are immoderate different sectors wherever Trump has acceptable wide objectives to summation US capacity, and wherever South Korea has shown willingness and involvement successful being that partner.

“The South Korean authorities is besides consenting to actively enactment successful the ‘modernisation’ of its confederation with the US, that could see expanding contributions to upholding the region’s information and development,” said the Sejong Institute’s Choi.

Another large treatment constituent volition beryllium Seoul and Washington’s defence posture regarding the increasing threats from North Korea, arsenic good arsenic the improvement of a strategical confederation to code the changing planetary information and economical environment.

“The pressures for the relation of US forces connected the Korean Peninsula to germinate has been increasing for years,” Jenny Town, the manager of the Washington, DC-based probe programme 38 North, told Al Jazeera.

This improvement was particularly truthful with large powerfulness contention expanding from China, Town said.

“The Trump medication is focused connected however to maximise resources for US interests and priorities, truthful it is apt that immoderate changes volition beryllium made during this term,” Town said.

“How drastic oregon melodramatic those changes volition beryllium connected a fig of factors, including the authorities of the US home governmental infrastructure that provides checks and balances to enforcement decisions,” she said.

A US Senate defence argumentation measure for fiscal twelvemonth 2026 includes a prohibition connected the usage of funds to trim the fig of US Forces Korea (USFK) troops to beneath the existent level of 28,500 work members.

“This makes it improbable that determination volition beryllium an contiguous alteration successful unit deployment numbers successful South Korea,” Choi said.

“So, the large constituent of contention volition beryllium the occupation duty of the troops to lucifer US interests. I deliberation there’s a anticipation of Trump asking South Korea to instrumentality connected a bigger relation successful determination security, specified arsenic taking portion successful the struggle involving Taiwan.”

Financial negotiations betwixt Trump and Lee whitethorn besides extremity into information details, arsenic the US president has regularly called for South Korea to wage much for the US troops stationed connected its soil.

Trump has made that aforesaid telephone since his archetypal statesmanlike term.

In summation to providing much than $1bn for the beingness of USFK forces, South Korea besides paid the full outgo of gathering Camp Humphreys, the largest US basal overseas, situated 64km (39 miles) southbound of Seoul.

Trump has said that helium wants defence spending to scope person to 5 percent of gross home merchandise (GDP) for each US allies.

Today, South Korea’s defence fund is astatine 3.5 percent of GDP.

Transfer of wartime operational bid – referring to the transportation of power of South Korean forces during wartime from the US to South Korea – has agelong been a constituent of treatment betwixt Seoul and Washington.

Under the Lee administration’s five-year governance plan, Seoul hopes to person the modulation hap by 2030.

The Trump-Lee gathering besides comes aft North Korean person Kim Jong Un’s almighty sister precocious dismissed Washington and Seoul’s stated desires to restart diplomacy aimed astatine defusing Pyongyang’s atomic programme.

Kim Yo Jong said that Seoul could ne'er beryllium a “diplomatic partner” with Pyongyang.

For Town, determination were “interesting nuances” successful Kim Yo Jong’s statements.

“While rejecting immoderate benignant of denuclearisation communicative arsenic the ground of negotiations, her statements did make an opening for the US to prosecute North Korea to amended wide relations,” Town said.

“Kim suggested that there’s a crushed for 2 countries with atomic weapons to debar confrontational relations. This begs the question of whether the US is really funny successful gathering a antithetic narration with North Korea that is not hinged connected denuclearisation, and however US allies would spot specified an agenda,” Town said.

For Richey, the HUFS professor, the anticipation of “Trump bypassing Lee successful diplomacy with North Korea” poses a superior hazard for South Korea down the road, successful presumption of power and security.

In opposition to today’s deficiency of interaction betwixt Washington and Pyongyang, Trump’s archetypal statesmanlike word featured a suspension of US subject exercises with South Korea and 3 abstracted meetings betwixt the US president and North Korea’s Kim.

His tendency to gain a Nobel Peace Prize could besides connection different acceptable of motivations for Trump to widen a US manus of relationship to Kim.

The South Korean president’s White House sojourn besides coincides with annual, large-scale South Korean and US associated subject exercises, which tally for 11 days.

During a sojourn to North Korea’s astir precocious warship past week, Kim denounced the drills arsenic rehearsals for an penetration of North Korea and “an evident look of their volition to provoke war”.

Also, past week, Beyond Parallel, a task of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, unveiled an undocumented North Korean rocket basal astir 25km (15.5 miles) from the borderline with China, which apt has intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) susceptible of reaching the US.

Town added that Russia could besides play a cameo relation successful this summit.

“Lee whitethorn bring up the contented of however Russia’s relations with North Korea, particularly their subject cooperation, poses imaginable dangers to the alliance’s information interests,” she said.

“Talks could upwind up to information of whether Trump’s narration with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin whitethorn assistance mitigate the situation,” she said.

North Korea’s caller dealings with Russia adds different magnitude to these inter-country relationships, arsenic reciprocal exchanges of subject troops for the receipt of food, energy, cash, weapons and exertion person created a unchangeable strategical enslaved betwixt Moscow and Pyongyang.

Furthermore, North Korea has shown an involvement successful strengthening ties with different of the US’s biggest rivals – China.

“Ultimately, I judge Trump volition proceed to marque overtures toward North Korea,” Choi said.

“He whitethorn look to beryllium pushing an isolationist strategy, but the substance of information is that the US continues to beryllium successful the mediate of negotiations and talks whenever a large struggle arises successful the world,” she said.

Read Entire Article