Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Seoul downplays role in possible Trump-Kim meeting, citing need for direct US-NK dialogue
Kim Hyun-jong, left, first deputy national security adviser, and Oh Hyun-joo, third deputy national security adviser, talk during a meeting of senior presidential aides at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Sept. 18. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
President Lee Jae Myung does not believe South Korea needs to be involved in a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, a senior presidential official said Monday.
Oh Hyun-joo, the third deputy national security adviser, told foreign correspondents in Seoul that Lee believes any meeting between the U.S. and North Korean leaders should be allowed to proceed independently.
“President Lee does not think South Korea necessarily needs to participate in a meeting between North Korea and the U.S.,” she said.
Speculation over a potential meeting between Trump and Kim surfaced after the U.S. president said aboard Air Force One on Friday that he was open to meeting Kim during his upcoming trip to South Korea. Trump is set to arrive in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday for the APEC summit, where he will also hold a bilateral summit with Lee.
However, Oh said that a separate meeting between Trump and Kim was “very unlikely,” although she added that “North Korea often acts unpredictably, so the situation could change.”
She added that Seoul remains prepared for any sudden developments and recalled the surprise meeting between Trump and Kim in 2019 at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom, which was arranged within a matter of days.
When asked whether Washington had asked Seoul to facilitate contact with Pyongyang, Oh said that she was unaware of any such request. She said the government’s priority is maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula and fostering conditions for “substantive and sustainable dialogue.”
Regarding trade issues, she said that Seoul and Washington are unlikely to finalize their ongoing tariff negotiations during the APEC gathering.
“Judging by the current progress, I think it will be difficult to reach a deal this time,” she said, adding that both sides are “focused on achieving commercially rational and mutually beneficial outcomes.”
The negotiations stem from a framework trade agreement announced in July, which included Seoul’s pledge to invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy. Lee recently told Bloomberg that the two countries remain deadlocked over key details of that investment plan.
Meanwhile, the Unification Ministry said that the APEC meetings could still provide a “good opportunity” for the U.S. and North Korea to resume dialogue. It noted that the South Korean government continues to keep all channels of communication open for inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korean engagement.