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President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump hold a joint press conference following their summit

During the South Korea-US summit on June 30, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed that a strong alliance between South Korea and the US should be the basis for solving the North Korean nuclear issue and for peace and economic prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The two leaders also agreed to keep discussing urgent economic issues such as renegotiating the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).

During a joint statement released after their first summit meeting at the White House in Washington on the morning of June 30, Moon and Trump emphasized “the exemplary nature of the US-ROK Alliance” and “pledged to build an even greater Alliance.” In regard to the North Korean nuclear issues, the two leaders reaffirmed their “shared top priority to resolve the nuclear issue” while confirming their openness to using “maximum pressure” as well as “dialogue [. . .] under the right circumstances” in order to push “North Korea to return to credible negotiations on denuclearization.” The two leaders agreed to discuss the “conditions necessary for denuclearization talks through a high-level strategic consultation mechanism.”

The joint statement also confirmed the Trump administration’s support for the Moon administration playing a leading role in creating the conditions for the peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula and for that administration’s policy stance on resuming inter-Korean dialogue. Moon asked for the US to understand that improving inter-Korean relations is necessary for carrying out his bold vision of denuclearization and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula. In regard to this, the two leaders “committed our foreign affairs and defense agencies to regularize a ‘2+2’ Ministerial meeting, as well as a high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group.”

“President Trump and I agreed today that the resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue is our top foreign policy priority and that we will closely coordinate our policies,” Moon said during his joint press conference with Trump. “In this vein, we agreed to work together toward a fundamental resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue based on a phased and comprehensive approach, utilizing both sanctions and dialogue.”

“The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed. Many years and it has failed,” Trump said during the same press conference. “The US calls on other regional powers and all responsible nations to join us in implementing sanctions and demanding that the North Korean regime choose a better path and do it quickly and a different future for its long-suffering people.”

Trump also made clear that he means to ask Seoul to pay a higher share of the defense burden. In order to achieve “peace, stability, and prosperity for the region,” Trump said, “we are working together to ensure fair burden sharing in support of the US military presence in South Korea.”

In their joint statement, the two leaders also “decided to advance future-oriented cooperation” in the area of the economy “to boost economic growth and job creation in both countries.” They agreed to create a reciprocal and fair trading environment in the area of trade, to work to promote investment while pursuing “expanded and balanced trade,” and to ensure that trade is both free and fair. In the statement, they also “committed to foster a truly fair and level playing field, including working together to reduce the global overcapacity of such basic materials as steel, as well as non-tariff barriers to trade.”

During the joint press conference, Trump mentioned that since the signing of the KORUS FTA, the US “trade deficit with South Korea has increased by more than 11 billion dollars,” which he described as “not exactly a great deal.” This made official Trump’s plan to renegotiate the KORUS FTA, though he also noted that he was “gratified to learn about the new investments South Korean companies are making in the US.”

To lay a foundation for ongoing communication, the two leaders agreed to hold a trilateral summit with Japan during the upcoming G-20 summit and for Trump to visit South Korea before the end of the year.

By Lee Se-young, staff reporter in Washington DC　

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