Hope and worry as Moon Jae-in embarks on first US visit

Amid worries over rifts in the South Korea-US alliance and strategy for North Korea, President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday embarked on a five-day trip to the US, which includes his first summit talks with US President Donald Trump. 

The Korean leader left for Washington at around 2 p.m. from Seoul Air Base, south of Seoul. He arrived at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, eastern US time, and began his official schedule by paying a visit to a monument dedicated to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir of the 1950-53 Korean War in Washington.
 

A summit meeting with President Trump is scheduled for Friday.

The official agenda for the meeting, the first between the two leaders since taking office, will focus on reaffirming the decadeslong alliance and coordinating the two nations’ response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Moon has said that his goal is to build “trust and friendship” with the US leader.

Still, thorny issues, such as the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in Korea and the renegotiation of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, may be brought up, possibly turning what is supposed to be a trust-building event into a stormy meeting.

Mindful of that, experts interviewed by The Korea Herald on the prospects of the Moon-Trump summit advised the two leaders to avoid an “open clash of wills” and to strive for “a quiet summit,” leaving specific issues to be discussed at the working level.

“More important than the specific tactics is a renewed, top-level commitment to forge a common North Korea policy,” said Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia Program at the Center for a New American Security.

For South Koreans, Moon’s foreign trip signals the resumption of top-level diplomacy, after eight months of political turmoil that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

“The meeting is the first stage of summit diplomacy that normalized the ‘abnormality of diplomacy’ caused by the scandal,” the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said in a statement, referring to the scandal that led to the downfall of Park.

The party added that North Korean nuclear issues will be a key issue and that the summit will be an opportunity to revisit the meaning of the alliance between Seoul and Washington.

The minor conservative opposition Bareun Party chose to hone in on the apparent disparity between North Korean policies of the Moon administration and other concerned nations. Since taking office on May 10, Moon has repeatedly stated that he would seek to thaw inter-Korean relations while continuing to pressure Pyongyang into denuclearization.

“(Moon) must show that the alliance remains firm and put to rest the concerns about the Korea-US alliance raised both in and outside the country,” the party said.

Over in Washington, a series of US congressmen took to the parliamentary floor to welcome Moon and to call for further strengthening of the alliance between the two countries.

“President Moon’s trip comes at a critical time -- a critical time for America’s strategic relationship with South Korea. And I look forward to welcoming him to Capitol Hill,” Republican Rep. Ed Royce of California, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during a floor speech Monday.

Royce also said that the US and South Korea “stand together in defense of democracy, and freedom, and prosperity and the strength of our friendship is now more important than ever as we face growing challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Moon is accompanied by a number of Cheong Wa Dae officials including Senior Economy Secretary Chang Ha-sung, National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong, and head of Presidential Security Service Ju Young-Hoon. From the Cabinet, only Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha is accompanying the president.

More than 50 South Korean business leaders are also accompanying Moon, including Park Yong-man, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun and Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun.

Moon will return to Seoul on July 2.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)