South Korean President Park Geun-hye left for the United States on Sunday for her first summit with President Barack Obama, an important tete-a-tete expected to focus on getting their ideas about how to deal with North Korea in sync.
The White House summit, scheduled for Tuesday, could take up contentious bilateral issues as well, such as Seoul's demand for the right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, and set the tone for how the alliance between the two countries will fare for years to come.
Park will first stop in New York for a meeting Monday with South Korean-born U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before heading to Washington later in the day for talks with Obama. While in Washington, she is also scheduled to address a joint session of Congress.