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South Korean President Moon Jae-in (provided by the Blue House)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet US President Joe Biden at the White House on May 21, the Blue House said.

Chung Man-ho, senior secretary to the president for public communication, told reporters in a Friday briefing that they’re scheduled to meet in person, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting “the importance of the South Korea-US alliance.”

“[Moon and Biden,] through the summit, will reaffirm the robustness of the alliance and expand comprehensive and reciprocal cooperation based on the friendship between the two leaders and their peoples,” Chung added. “The two leaders also plan to have an in-depth discussion about making progress on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing a permanent peace regime, as well as trade, climate change, fighting COVID-19 and other transnational challenges.”

The Blue House denied reports that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) will be one of the agenda items.

“It’s not true at all that the Quad is on the agenda. The specific agenda for the summit is still under discussion between the two countries,” a Blue House official said. “South Korea, as always, is open to cooperating with any international body that promotes peaceful cooperation based on the principles of openness, inclusiveness and transparency.”

The official added that it has yet to be determined whether business leaders will accompany Moon.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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