South Korean President will meet President Donald Trump in Washington DC on Monday, 25th August. He is likely to urge Mr. Trump to reopen the stalled dialogue with North Korea and follow up on a recently signed trade deal.
Mr. Lee took office in June and this will be his first meeting with Trump. Over the weekend, Lee also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, pledging to build a “virtuous cycle” in which enhanced ties with Japan contribute to a stronger trilateral cooperation with the US. South Korean President has also sent a special delegation to the country’s main trading partner China, led by a former parliament speaker. The two sides are hoping to normalise relations which have been strained in recent years; they have agreed to boost economic cooperation.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test firing of two new air defense missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Missile tests were held amid surging tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The reported missile test on Saturday comes as the United States and South Korea hold annual military exercises. Kim slammed the military drills calling them “hostile and confrontational”.
South Korea’s military said Saturday that it had fired warning shots at around 30 North Korean troops who last week had briefly crossed the military demarcation line at the heavily mined Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which separates the two nations.
North Korea and South Korea engaged in the Korean War from 1950-1953 which ended in an armistice agreement but without a peace treaty. The relations between the two Koreas have remained tense. South Korea, a democracy, a US ally and an economically developed country, maintains diplomatic relations with 191 countries; it has been a member of the United Nations since 1991. North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states. It enjoys good relations with China and Russia, but its relationships with many western nations have often been complicated and strained due to its nuclear and missile program and UN sanctions.
Disclaimer: The article has references to open sources including Bloomberg, KCNA, Times of India and Wikipedia.