Moon heading to Washington for summit with Biden

President Moon Jae-in is heading to Washington on Wednesday ahead of his first summit with President Joe Biden on Friday, marking his first overseas trip since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be his fifth visit to the US as president.

The overall itinerary and the size of the delegation have been reduced due to heightened quarantine measures, but his five-day US trip still has a packed agenda.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, Moon plans to kick off his official schedule Thursday by paying tribute to Korean War veterans at Arlington National Cemetery. Later in the day, he is to visit Capitol Hill for a meeting with Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, and other leaders of the chamber.

On Friday, Moon will be greeted by Vice President Kamala Harris before the summit with Biden at the White House. The high-level talks will be followed by a joint press conference in the afternoon.

With the new US security team wrapping up its monthslong policy review on North Korea, more details of the new policy are expected to be discussed during the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders.

Late last month, the White House hinted at a more practical and gradual approach to dealing with a nuclear-armed North Korea, saying it is the outcome of close consultations with its allies, including South Korea.

It still remains to be seen whether the leaders will agree to recognize the Singapore Declaration, the unpopular diplomatic legacy left by former President Donald Trump, as the starting point for reviving the stalled denuclearization talks.

In their historic first summit in Singapore, 2018, Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pledged mutual efforts toward the goals of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and improved US-North relations. But their second meeting in Hanoi in 2019 ended with no agreement on dismantling the North’s nuclear programs or easing of the US-led sanctions imposed on the North.

COVID-19 vaccines will also be on the agenda at the summit. Amid still lingering concerns over a vaccine shortage here, the South Korean president is making a big push to secure more vaccines, including hosting an Asian vaccine production hub for US-made vaccines.

Related talks are known to be underway with US vaccine developers like Pfizer and Moderna. Novavax has already signed a deal with SK Bioscience to produce 40 million doses of its new vaccine at the Korean drugmaker’s local production facilities.

Other agenda items are expected to include extended partnership tackling a global chip shortage, climate change and other regional challenges.

On Saturday, the president plans to meet Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C. Both Moon and Biden are the second Roman Catholic presidents of their respective countries.

Before returning home, Moon also plans to stop in Atlanta later in the day to visit to a plant of SK Innovation, the South Korean maker of batteries for electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, expectations are high about the nation’s top four chaebol groups – Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG – announcing new investment plans, worth an estimated 40 trillion won ($35.5 billion) in the US on the sidelines of summit talks.

Sources say a group of their top executives, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam, are also flying to the US to help add weight to the president’s trip.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)