Trump announces S. Korean trade pact
President uses U.N. visit to play role of diplomat
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump returned to the United Nations on Monday to play the role of successful diplomat — a point he punctuated by announcing a freshly negotiated trade deal with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The pact, Trump said, should open up a key market for U.S. automobiles.
“I’ve never seen my name in Korean,” Trump said as the two presidents signed the pact. “It looks nice.”
Talking to reporters, Trump dangled the possibility of a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “quite soon.”
Trump said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been tasked with bringing about the second summit, despite an assessment by U.S. officials that the North has not followed through on its commitments to take steps toward denuclearization.
One year ago Trump turned heads when he delivered his first address to the U.N. General Assembly and referred to Kim as “Rocket Man.” He also warned that if Pyongyang continued on its aggressive path, the United States would have “no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
Critics charged that Trump was driving the two nations to the brink of nuclear war.
Instead, Trump became the first U.S. president to meet with a leader of the hermit kingdom. In June, Trump and Kim met in Singapore and signed a deal ostensibly to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
“It was a different world,” Trump said Monday of his onetime moniker for the North Korean leader. “That was a dangerous time. This is one year later, a much different time.”
The president started the day in a roll-up-your sleeves session to address the global scourge of illicit drugs — a signature issue of the Trump White House — before sitting down with Moon.
Trump and Moon signed a new version of the U.s.-south Korean trade agreement, marking one of Trump’s first successes in his effort to renegotiate economic deals on more favorable terms for the U.S. Trump labeled it a “very big deal” and said the new agreement makes significant improvements to reduce the trade deficit between the countries and create new opportunities to export American products to South Korea.
Both Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Trump will address the U.N. Security Council, where he is expected to call out North Korea, Syria and Iran.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal. com or 202-662-7391. Follow @ Debrajsaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.