US President Donald Trump will visit South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, Joseph Yun, the acting US ambassador to South Korea, said on Wednesday.
At a Korea-US security alliance conference in Seoul, Yun said that Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held a successful summit last month and are expected to meet again on the sidelines of the APEC gathering in Gyeongju, Korea.
In a keynote speech at the conference hosted by the Korea-US Alliance Foundation and the Korea Defense Veterans Association, the acting ambassador stressed the importance of deepening their cooperation in the fields of economy, science and technology.
Yun’s remarks suggest a thaw in the recently strained relationship between Seoul and Washington.
The two countries have been at odds over the terms of a $350 billion investment fund that Seoul has pledged to launch to invest in the US in return for Washington lowering tariffs on Korean goods to 15% from the previously announced 25%.
The week-long detention of 317 Koreans by US immigration authorities at the construction site of a Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery joint venture in Georgia earlier this month has provoked widespread outrage among Koreans toward the US.
If the two leaders meet in Gyeongju, it will mark their second bilateral meeting since their summit at the White House on Aug. 25. During the visit, Lee invited Trump to attend the upcoming APEC summit in Korea.
In another sign of easing tensions between the two countries, Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s national security adviser, said that Washington had granted formal diplomatic consent, or agrément, for the appointment of Kang Kyung-wha as South Korea’s ambassador to the US.
He made the remarks in response to questions about delays in the US approval process during a meeting with Korean newspaper editors at the Korea Press Center on Wednesday.
By Yeonhee Kim
yhkim@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.
