Lee embarks on key diplomatic trip for high-stakes summits with Trump, Ishiba

President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea Kyung at Seoul Airbase, Saturday, before a three-night, six-day visit to Japan and the U.S. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung embarked on a key diplomatic trip Saturday for high-stakes summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with his first in-person meeting with Trump expected to focus on reworking the alliance between Seoul and Washington.

After taking office in early June, Lee is set to hold talks with Trump in Washington early next week, after Seoul reached a trade deal with the U.S. that agreed to lower "reciprocal" tariffs on South Korean goods to 15 percent from a proposed 25 percent, in return for massive investments and market opening.

National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Lee and Trump will discuss efforts for "alliance modernization" during their meeting at the White House, adding that modernizing the alliance is aimed at bolstering the joint defense posture between Seoul and Washington.

At a time when the United States is focusing on deterring an increasingly assertive China, analysts said that Washington is pushing to adjust the alliance with Seoul under the name of "modernization" and could discuss a U.S. ground troop cut in Korea.

Wi told reporters that modernizing the alliance is aimed at bolstering the joint defense posture between Seoul and Washington.

"Our envisioned alliance modernization is aimed at making our security stronger and further reinforcing the combined defense posture of South Korea and the U.S.," Wi said.

In Tokyo, Saturday, Lee will hold a summit with Ishiba before flying to Washington, Sunday.

Lee and Ishiba held a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada in June. The Tokyo summit is intended to promote "future-oriented" relations and build personal ties, Wi said.

In an interview with Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, Thursday, Lee said he would uphold past agreements on wartime forced labor and former sex slaves for Japanese troops, euphemistically called "comfort women," issues that remain politically sensitive at home.

A day after summit talks with Trump, Lee plans to visit Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia with senior U.S. officials.

Wi described the facility, acquired by Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, as "a symbol of shipbuilding cooperation" between the two countries.

On the final day of his U.S. trip, he will also lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.