According to government sources, Lee is likely to fly to Washington, D.C. on Aug. 24 for his first bilateral summit with Trump at the White House the following day.
The upcoming summit will be Lee's first test in bilateral relations, marking his official debut on the international diplomatic stage, although he briefly participated in a multilateral gathering in Canada shortly after his inauguration on June 4.
Earlier, the two leaders missed a chance to meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in June after Trump cut his trip short. Amid looming uncertainty over potential delays, momentum for the summit was suddenly built after Seoul and Washington reached a tariff-related deal late last month.
At the summit, the two leaders are expected to discuss further details of the trade deal along with a wide range of issues including defense cost-sharing and security cooperation on the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other regional conflicts.
Meanwhile, Seth Baily, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said Thursday that the U.S. has "noted with interest" recent statements by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's influential sister, Yo-jong, suggesting that North Korea-related issues are likely to be included on the summit's main agenda.
reporter
Im Yoon-seo
lyseo0330@ajupress.com
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