Trump to visit Seoul early November
By Choi Ha-young
U.S. President Donald Trump will visit South Korea next month amid the ongoing crisis with North Korea, as a part of a five-nation tour from Nov. 3 to 14, the White House said Sunday (KST).
The planned trip is to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and also a stopover in Hawaii. His first Asia visit after taking office will include two major regional summits ― the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
In a press release, the White House specified the trip’s goal of denuclearizing North Korea. “The President’s engagement will strengthen the international resolve to confront the North Korean threat and ensure the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
For the past couple of months, Trump has exchanged barbs with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the totalitarian state’s de facto nuclear armament and growing intercontinental ballistic missile capacity. During the upcoming trip, Trump is likely to seek joint efforts with Beijing, as seen by the latter’s announcement Thursday ordering North Korean joint-ventures in China to be closed within 120 days.
The U.S. administration also implied its bid to redraw a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea by clarifying “fair and reciprocal economic ties with trade partners” in the release.
Last month, the Washington Post reported that President Trump had ordered his advisers to prepare to withdraw the U.S. from its FTA with South Korea, after it formally demanded renegotiations in July.
Trump has also pressed China for more balanced trade with America, citing its large trade surplus with the U.S.
Trump’s attendance at the Manila summit is also notable. The schedule had been in doubt since the President was reluctant to show his support for his Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte, who has been noted for anti-America outbursts.