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Korea, U.S. in talks to set date for Lee-Trump summit: top Seoul diplomat

Published: 01 Aug. 2025, 17:48 Updated: 01 Aug. 2025, 17:51

Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun speaks during a meeting with reporters at the Korean Embassy in Washington on July 31. [NEWS1]

Korea and the United States have begun talks to set a date for a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, Seoul's top diplomat said Thursday, a day after Trump said Lee will visit the White House in two weeks.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun made the remarks in a meeting with Korean correspondents in Washington after he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio held their first talks since the launch of the Lee administration in June. Cho called the meeting "very constructive."

"[The two sides] are coordinating to set a date [for the summit]," Cho said.

"We also agreed to shape the content of it at a working level," he added, apparently referring to joint preparations for the summit agenda.

Regarding the summit preparations, a senior Seoul official said it would take a "little more time" to finalize a date and that it is difficult to conclusively say whether the summit will take place in two weeks as Trump has said.

Touching on the summit agenda, the official said there has been mutual understanding between Seoul and Washington of the need to develop the bilateral alliance into a "comprehensive" and "future-oriented" partnership.

The Trump administration has been pushing to "modernize" the alliance — a move seen by some as an effort to align the Seoul-Washington partnership with its policy priorities, including deterring the "pacing threat" from an increasingly assertive China.

If the summit is held, Lee and Trump are expected to discuss a wide range of alliance issues, ranging from defense against North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats to joint efforts to enhance economic security for both nations.

Yonhap