White House delegation arrives to discuss summit
A White House delegation arrived in Seoul, Monday, to fine-tune the schedule for a summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump and also their agenda, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The delegation is led by Matt Pottinger, the senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council (NSC) and Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC. They will leave the country today.
The possible topics to be included at the summit are North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile threats, the ongoing deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery here and China’s retaliatory measures, defense-cost sharing and a possible renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.
Cheong Wa Dae said it has not been decided whether Moon will meet with the White House delegates.
“It is yet to be confirmed whether President Moon will greet the U.S. delegates in person, and we can’t tell you about relevant details,” a presidential official said.
Sources said the delegation may also meet Cheong Wa Dae’ security task force led by former permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Chung Ui-yong.