Talks are underway between Seoul and Washington to arrange the first summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump, an official at the presidential office here said Monday, adding that the exact timing has yet to be finalized.
"The timing and other procedures are under negotiation," the official, who declined to be named, told reporters. "(The summit) is being pursued but has yet to be confirmed."
The comment came after a report by local daily Donga Ilbo that the summit would be held in July.
Citing an unnamed diplomatic source, the newspaper claimed that both sides are coordinating to hold the potential summit in the fourth week of July, and “preferably before August.”
Detailed negotiations, including the time, location and agenda of the potential summit, are expected to kick off after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s likely visit to South Korea around the time of the ASEAN Regional Forum foreign ministers' meeting in Malaysia in early July, according to the report. Joseph Yun, the acting US ambassador in Seoul, recently said Trump is considering inviting Lee to Washington to hold the summit there.
The latest report follows Lee’s decision not to attend last week’s NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, despite talks of a meeting with Trump. Lee’s presidential office cited domestic priorities and growing uncertainty in the Middle East as key reasons for his decision to skip the summit.
In June, a planned meeting between the two leaders failed to materialize during the G7 summit in Canada after Trump left the event early.
Though the agenda for the upcoming summit has yet to be set, Seoul officials and observers pointed to tariffs and defense spending as two main items.
Seoul has been seeking exemptions from the US' "reciprocal tariffs" and new duties on steel, aluminum and automobiles, which are South Korea’s key export items.
The Trump administration has recently signaled an openness to extending the pause on the new tariffs, which is slated to end on July 8. The tariffs, including 25 percent duties on South Korea, took effect on April 9, but Trump suspended them until July 8 to allow room for negotiations.
Meanwhile, Wi Sung-lac, national security adviser to President Lee, told reporters after attending the NATO summit last week on Lee's behalf that Seoul and Washington have begun working-level talks on increasing Seoul’s defense spending. This aligns with a new commitment by NATO countries to raise their military budgets to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2035.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
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