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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa enter a meeting with former South Korean ambassadors to the US

President Moon Jae-in said that he plans to focus on “building trust between leaders and strengthening the South Korea-US alliance rather than generating specific outcomes” at the South Korea-US summit in Washington DC in four days. Moon‘s remarks came during a roundtable at the Blue House on June 26 with former South Korean ambassadors to Washington.

Also present at the roundtable was Blue House National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong, who said the summit would “affirm the US’s strong Korean Peninsula defense posture, including expanded deterrence against North Korean threats, and include frank discussions toward joint solutions to the North Korean nuclear and missile issues in a broader framework.”

Chung went on to say the summit would be “an opportunity for holding practical discussions in various directions to share and reaffirm our vision toward developing the South Korea-US alliance into a ‘great alliance.’”

After arriving in Washington on June 28, Moon plans to begin his official schedule with an offering of flowers at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir Memorial (a Korean War battle in which many US soldiers perished). On June 30, he is to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House for a one-on-one and expanded summit, after which the two will give a joint press statement to share the outcome and significance of the summit.

As the summit approaches, Seoul has stressed the importance of a “solid South Korea-US alliance.” Speaking at a forum organized at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul that day by the US’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-hwa said the performance of an environmental impact assessment on the THAAD site was a “matter of domestic legal procedure.”

“Once its democratic and procedural legitimacy has been established, the public’s support for the THAAD deployment will be stronger, and this will ultimately lead to a stronger South Korea-US alliance,” she said.

Meanwhile, Moon reportedly met with former Unification Minister and North Korea dialogue and negotiation advocate Lim Dong-won and special aide for unification, foreign affairs and security Moon Chung-in for a dinner at his official Blue House residence on the evening of June 22 to hear advice on the upcoming US summit.

By Lee Se-young, staff reporter

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