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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump
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Blue House announces two leaders will discuss Korean Peninsula peace regime
US President Donald Trump is planning to visit South Korea in June for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The next question is whether this could lead to a breakthrough in the North Korea-US denuclearization talks, which have been at an impasse amid rising tensions since the North Korea-US summit in Hanoi this past February. “President Trump has accepted President Moon’s invitation and is planning to visit South Korea around the time of the G20 Summit, which is being held at the end of June. We have decided to work out the details of the schedule through diplomatic channels,” said Ko Min-jung, spokesperson for the Blue House, on May 16. The G20 summit will be held in Osaka, Japan, on June 28-29. Moon invited Trump to visit South Korea soon during their summit in Washington, DC, last month, and Trump expressed his gratitude for the invitation. Ko also said the South Korea-US summit “will be the first in about two months since the Washington summit on Apr. 11, and the eighth since President Moon took office.” Trump previously visited South Korea as a guest of the state on Nov. 7–8, 2017. At the time, he visited the US Forces Korea base at Pyeongtaek, paid respects at the National Cemetery, and delivered a speech before the National Assembly in addition to the summit at the Blue House. He had also planned a surprise visit with Moon to the DMZ on May 8, which was ultimately canceled due to inclement weather. “During this summit, the two leaders will be discussing the establishment of a permanent peace regime through complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula based on close coordination between South Korea and the US, as well as ideas for strengthening the South Korea-US alliance,” Ko said. Trump recently affirmed his commitment to dialogue with North Korea, maintaining that he did not consider its two recent test launches of short-range missiles “a breach of trust.” By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
