Скачать или смотреть South Korea and U.S. standing firm against North Korea, Trump targets Seoul on trade,

한 미 정상회담, 양국 대북제재 동의, 트럼프 FTA 언급

Like most summit meetings, the very first bilateral talks between Presidents Moon and Trump had some ups and downs.
Further breaking down the results of the two-day meeting is our Lee Unshin.
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in received a warm welcome off U.S. President Trump last week, with the White House even serving a Korean fusion dish at the reception. But the summit talks also revealed some differences between the perspectives of the two allies, especially on economic policy.


Top of the agenda at the joint press conference Friday, the agreement on strengthening security and defense against North Korea's continued provocations.


. .
"We agreed to strengthen our overwhelming pressure on North Korea through the Republic of Korea-U.S. joint defense posture, including extended deterrence."


"The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed. Frankly, that patience is over."

And as expected by many, Trump followed the statement with comments on plans to share the cost of defense.


"The burden sharing is one of the top agendas of President Trump, he always said that about not only for Korea, but also for Japan, and ally members in NATO. So there will be a negotiation taking place soon."

But it was the topic of economy that came to center stage at the joint conference.
While Moon summed up their discussion saying the two countries "will work together for mutually beneficial relations, through economic growth and job creation..." Trump brought up the free trade agreement between two nations.


"...Our trade deficit with South Korea has increased by more than 11 billion dollars. Not exactly a great deal."

Blue House officials later said that particular remark from Trump on trade was not part of the previously discussed statement between him and Moon..., stressing that nothing specific was negotiated regarding the Free Trade Agreement, which came into force back in 2012.


"For the past several years, the losses on America's end had nothing to do with the KORUS FTA. As far as tariffs are concerned, the U.S. actually benefits far more than South Korea. At this point, further analyzing what exactly the Trump administration wants through renegotiation of the accord is important."

While future talks on future trade practices remain somewhat unclear...,Trump's demand that Seoul stop enabling the export of dumped steel might be a more immediate dilemma for South Korea.


"Korea gets steel from China for a relatively inexpensive cost, manufactures products, and sells those to other nations. That's also how Japan, another mega-steel industry of Asia...is making a profit. Putting a cap on steel imports from China isn't easy, and there's only so much the government can do in this field."

Upon Moon's return to Seoul, pundits are rather optimistic on two nations' united approach to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through sanctions and dialogue.


"Pyongyang will likely criticize the approach, but in the long run, I think it's possible that the regime may consider approaching the issue through dialogue."

While the summit brought up many questions about the two countries' future economic relationship... experts say that, overall, the first meeting between the two leaders fulfilled its purpose.


"The Moon administration just started 2 months ago, so I think the top goal of this summit is personal entanglement with President Trump. In that regard, it think the summit was successful."

Building trust is one of the most important goals of these summits.
However with many more talks ahead, including a trilateral one between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo later this week as part of the G-20 summit... watchers add that compromise is also expected.
Lee Unshin Arirang News.

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