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President Moon Jae-in lays a wreath at the memorial to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir at the National Museum of the Marine Corps

On June 28, President Moon Jae-in departed for the US for the first South Korea-US summit since his inauguration. Moon‘s five-day itinerary is studded with events that underline the strong alliance between South Korea and the US. The South Korea-US summit, which will be held in Washington on June 30, is taking place 51 days after Moon’s inauguration, earlier than any previous South Korean president. This reflects the view that the South Korea-US alliance and mutual trust are essential for easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The capstone of Moon‘s emphasis on the alliance is his visit to a memorial commemorating the Battle of Chosin Reservoir (also known as the Changjin Lake Battle), immediately following his arrival in Washington on June 28. In the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, which was fought at the end of Nov. 1950, more than 15,000 soldiers from the US 1st Marine Division were seeking to capture the strategic North Korean city of Kanggye when they were surrounded by Communist Chinese forces hidden around a lake in Jangjin County, South Hamgyong Province, and came close to being annihilated. It was a fiercely fought battle in which upwards of 4,500 American marines lost their lives, and it’s believed to have contributed decisively to holding back the advance of the Communist Chinese long enough for more than 90,000 refugees to be evacuated from the port of Hungnam.

President Moon’s own parents were among these refugees who were relocated to South Korea during the evacuation. “Thanks to that operation, the son of evacuated refugees became the president of this country,” Moon said while referring to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir and the Hungnam evacuation during an event held on June 23 to honor South Korean and UN veterans. Laying a wreath at the memorial to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir appears to have been strategically chosen as the first stop during his visit to the US in order to play up the strength of the South Korea-US alliance while also emphasizing Moon’s own ties to the US to create a favorable atmosphere.

Another event underscoring the strength of the alliance will be Moon’s visit to the Korean War Veterans Memorial with US Vice President Mike Pence on the morning of June 30, where they will lay a wreath at the memorial and meet with representatives of veterans’ groups. “Vice President Pence‘s late father was a Korean War veteran. He very much hoped to lay a wreath at the memorial,” said National Security Office Chief Chung Eui-yong.

Moon’s actions connected with veterans are designed to show his intention to dispel concerns raised in some parts of the US government about Moon’s attitude toward security, and they’re also aimed at the summit with US President Trump scheduled for that same afternoon. During a private meeting and an expanded summit on the afternoon of June 30, the two leaders will be reviewing pressing issues facing the two countries. One of the biggest questions is whether a solution can be reached on the issue of the North Korean nuclear issue, one of the greatest areas of bilateral interest. “To resolve the [North Korean nuclear] issue, we have to add dialogue to the current menu of sanctions and pressure,” Moon said during an interview with the Washington Post on June 19. “I hope to have frank and open discussions with President Trump on this issue.”

But with the US adhering to its position that North Korea must denuclearize before dialogue can resume, it‘s unclear whether the two sides can narrow their differences. While the Blue House has stated that sensitive issues such as the THAAD deployment and the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) are not agenda items for this summit, they could be unexpectedly brought up during the meeting.

On the evening of June 29, Moon and his wife, Kim Jeong-sook, have been invited by Donald and Melania Trump to visit the White House for an official meeting and a welcome dinner. This will be the first time that a foreign head of state and their spouse attend an official welcome dinner at the White House since Trump’s inauguration, the Blue House said. On July 1, the day after the summit, Moon will be attending meetings with Korean-Americans and with South Korean correspondents in Washington before returning to South Korea on the evening of July 2.

By Choi Hye-jung, staff reporter

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