South Korea's FM Cho says Lee-Trump summit unlikely to be delayed to next month

Seoul, Aug 3 (IANS) South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Sunday last-minute coordination to set a date for a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump is under way, noting the envisioned meeting will not be delayed to next month.

Last week, Trump announced that Lee will visit the White House in two weeks, as he announced Washington has agreed to lower "reciprocal" tariffs on South Korea to 15 per cent from the proposed 25 per cent in return for massive investments and market opening.

Cho made the remark as he arrived in Seoul after back-to-back visits to the US and Japan for his first talks with his counterparts since the launch of the Lee administration in June, Yonhap News Agency reported.

He said his US visit, which included meetings with senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, served as an occasion to reaffirm Washington's commitment to extended deterrence.

"(We) reaffirmed the steadfast South Korea-US combined response posture, and extended deterrence and agreed to continue to cooperate going forward," Cho said.

Asked about the Trump administration's push to "modernise" the alliance, Cho said the move involves taking various necessary measures, such as strengthening defence capabilities in the face of a stern international security environment, while brushing off concerns that such a push will affect Seoul's ties with China.

Cho said in-depth talks over a possible role change of US troops in South Korea did not take place, saying the two sides agreed to discuss additional matters in working-level talks going forward.

Addressing the possibility that the US may seek to reset security issues following the tariff deal, Cho said he believes the allies could reach mutually beneficial agreements in the defence sector.

Cho Hyun met US Senators and White House officials to discuss alliance and security issues, including North Korea's nuclear programme, his ministry said Saturday, after the two countries reached a tariff deal this week.

Cho met Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and spoke with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) by phone Friday during his visit to Washington for talks with his US counterpart, Rubio, earlier in the week, according to the ministry.

--IANS

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