Trump’s agenda in Korea may include DMZ visit, but not NK leader: source

[Photo by Kim Jae-hoon]

U.S. President Donald Trump may visit the demilitarized zone (DMZ) bordering the two Koreas when he arrives in South Korea for a summit meeting with President Moon Jae-in this weekend, but he does not have a surprise three-way summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in mind, an unnamed government official with knowledge of the summit said on Monday.

The U.S. President Trump “is reviewing” an option to visit the DMZ during his two-day stay in South Korea later this week, the official said.

Trump is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Saturday following the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, and is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday.

This would be Trump’s second visit to South Korea. The last time he visited was in November 2017. Trump had wanted to go to the DMZ then but the trip was canceled due to the heavy fog.

Trump’s potential visit to the DMZ, where Moon and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held their first summit last year, has stoked speculation of a possible trilateral summit between the two Koreas and the U.S. But a senior official from South Korea’s presidential office ruled out the idea, saying there were “no (such) plans during Trump’s stay in Korea.”

Trump and Kim held their first groundbreaking summit in Singapore in June 2018. But their second summit in Vietnam in February fell through due to disagreement over sanctions relief and disarmament.

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

Tensions appeared to be flaring up again when North Korea test-fired a series of short-range ballistic missiles in early May.

But correspondence between Trump and Kim was revived when the North Korean leader sent a letter last week to the U.S. president containing a birthday greeting, and Trump reciprocated with a personal letter to Kim. While the details of Trump’s letter were not disclosed, Kim said he would “seriously contemplate the interesting content,” according to a report from North Korea’s state-run news agency.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped Trump’s letter could revive the stalled talks with North Korea, adding that Washington was ready to resume talks with Pyongyang immediately.

“I’m hopeful that this will provide a good foundation for us to begin ... these important discussions with the North Koreans,” Pompeo told reporters.

The U.S.-South Korea summit comes at a time of greater Chinese involvement in the Korean Peninsula. Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first official state visit to North Korea last week, a meeting that analysts see as a ploy for both leaders to gain leverage in their separate disputes with the United States. Xi is expected to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit to possibly call a truce on their trade war.

North Korea’s nuclear program is not the only topic on the Trump-Moon summit agenda. Moon is expected to face greater pressure from Trump to join America’s anti-Huawei campaign and shoulder more of the costs of maintaining the 28,500 U.S. troops in the country.

In February, Seoul signed a cost-sharing deal with Washington, subject to parliamentary approval, to contribute about $925 million this year for the U.S. military presence, an 8.2 percent increase from last year. The new agreement covers this year only, and the two countries need to resume talks in the coming months on how to share next year’s costs.

Some say Trump could pressure Korea to buy more of U.S. weapons, as he did at the 2017 summit when he made an off-the-cuff remark by mentioning Korea’s purchase of U.S. military equipment.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]