Wi told Rubio that Seoul hopes to hold a summit between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump "at the earliest possible," the presidential office here said on Tuesday.
He also stressed the importance of close cooperation between the two countries to strengthen the bilateral alliance, adding that the summit is necessary to reach mutually beneficial outcomes on various pending issues including tariff-related dialogues.
Their talks coincided with Trump's announcement of steep tariffs on some 14 countries including Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and South Korea. According to his letters sent to each country, South Korea is set to face a 25 percent tariff taking effect on Aug. 1, which could "perhaps" be adjusted "depending on our relationship with your country," allowing Seoul about three more weeks from an initial July 8 deadline to reach a deal.
Earlier last month, Lee and Trump missed a couple of occasions to sit down for talks on the sidelines of international gatherings such as the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada and the NATO summit in the Hague, the Netherlands.
If the two are unable to set a date before the end of August, their first meeting may be delayed until September when the high-level session of the U.N. General Assembly takes place in New York or until the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled for the country's southern historic city of Gyeongju at the end of October.
Meanwhile, Lee is reportedly considering sending veteran politician Kim Chong-in to Washington as a special envoy to the U.S., along with about a dozen others who are expected to be dispatched to Asian and European countries.
The move is apparently aimed at signaling the country's diplomatic restoration with his inauguration last month, after a political turmoil caused by former disgraced President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched Dec. 3 declaration of martial law last year.
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