Yoon President-elect Weighs Holding 'South Korea-US Summit' Next Month

[Asia Economy reporters Yoo In-ho and Lee Ji-eun] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to hold a South Korea-US summit with US President Joe Biden in Seoul as early as the 25th of next month.

If realized, it will be President-elect Yoon's first diplomatic stage after taking office, meeting with the US president. Separately, Sung Kim, the US State Department's Special Representative for North Korea, will visit Korea next week to assess the possibility of North Korea's strategic provocations and responses.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol visited Sangju Central Market in Sangju, Gyeongbuk, on the afternoon of the 11th and performed an uppercut ceremony in response to the cheers from citizens who came out to welcome him. Photo by the Transition Team Press Corps

According to foreign media and diplomatic sources on the 12th, the governments of South Korea and the US are expected to soon begin formal coordination of the schedule regarding President Biden's visit to Korea at the end of May.

A diplomatic source said, "The Biden administration plans to visit South Korea around May 24, coinciding with the Quad summit held in Japan, and is pushing for a South Korea-US summit," adding, "Mark Lambert, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for Korea-US bilateral relations, will visit Korea this week, and attention is focused on whether discussions about holding the summit next month will take place." The Quad is a US-led cooperation framework among four countries?Japan, India, Australia, and the US?aimed at countering China.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding this, President Biden said during a virtual summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 11th (local time), "I look forward to seeing Prime Minister Modi in Japan around May 24," indicating the date of his visit to Japan. The White House stated in a press release after the summit that the two leaders anticipated holding the Quad summit in Japan in late spring.

If the Quad summit is held in Japan as President Biden mentioned, the possibility of a South Korea-US summit on the 25th or 26th has increased. If President Biden visits Japan to attend the Quad summit, there is a considerable chance he will also visit South Korea.

It is also positive that South Korea and the US share a consensus on holding the summit early. Park Jin, head of the Korea-US Policy Consultation Delegation dispatched by President-elect Yoon to the US, said, "President Biden expressed that if he visits Asia, it would be highly desirable to visit South Korea and hold a summit, and we confirmed that the US side shares the same view."

A key official from the transition team mentioned regarding discussions about President Biden's visit to Korea, "We plan to discuss it once President Biden's schedule for visiting Japan is set."

Separately from the summit, Sung Kim and other US officials responsible for North Korea's nuclear issues will visit Korea next week to discuss North Korea response measures with officials from the current and next governments. Kim will arrive on the 18th for a four-day schedule and consult with his Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, head of the South Korea Peace and Security Negotiation Office. Jung Park, US Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, is also expected to visit Korea around this time.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During this visit, Representative Kim is expected to meet with transition team officials to coordinate North Korea response strategies and discuss responses to potential additional provocations by North Korea.

Kim's visit is prompted by concerns that North Korea may carry out additional provocations around major anniversaries such as Kim Il-sung's birthday (Day of the Sun) on the 15th, marking the 110th anniversary, and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army on the 25th.

In particular, this period overlaps with the South Korea-US joint military exercises, and if North Korea strongly opposes, the security situation could become more unstable. Therefore, it is expected that South Korea and the US will exchange views on how to respond.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.