WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – United States President Donald Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae In on Thursday (June 29) with Trump expected to press his counterpart on trade differences over cars and steel in meetings that will focus on the nuclear threat from North Korea..
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – United States President Donald Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae In on Thursday (June 29) with Trump expected to press his counterpart on trade differences over cars and steel in meetings that will focus on the nuclear threat from North Korea.
Concerns about the US military’s Thaad missile defence system and China’s role in the region also are likely to come up in talks between Trump and Moon at the White House.
Moon, making his first trip to the US since becoming his country’s president in May, joined Trump and his wife, Melania, for dinner in the White House State Dining Room on Thursday evening ahead of further talks on Friday.
“I know you’ve been discussing with our people some of the complexities of North Korea and trade and other things, and we’ll be discussing them all as we progress, and it could be very well late into the evening, ” Trump told Moon.
“I’d like to also congratulate you upon your election victory. It was a great victory, and you did a fantastic job. A lot of people didn’t expect that, and I did expect it. I thought that was going to happen.”
Both men have an interest in building a strong relationship but tensions could puncture that effort.
Trump has spoken harshly about US trade imbalances with South Korea and threatened to tear up a trade agreement with the country.
Moon has taken a wary stance on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system that the US deployed in South Korea in March.
“I think they’ll have a friendly and frank discussion about the trade relationship, ” a White House official told reporters on Wednesday, noting concerns about barriers to US auto sales and surplus Chinese steel that arrives in the US via South Korea.
