US President Donald Trump will travel to South Korea on the 29th for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. Meanwhile, North Korea test-fired a ship-to-surface strategic cruise missile in the Yellow Sea on the 28th.
According to Hankyoreh News Agency, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit will begin in Gyeongju, South Korea, on the 31st. Trump will hold a summit with Lee Jae-myung in Gyeongju on the afternoon of the 29th. This will be the second US-South Korea summit since Lee Jae-myung met with Trump in Washington in August. The South Korean presidential office stated that this is the shortest reciprocal visit between US and South Korean leaders.
Lee Jae-myung arrived in Gyeongju on the 28th as Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Trump will travel to Gyeongju for talks with Lee on the morning of the 29th, following his visit to Japan. The talks are expected to focus on key issues such as US-South Korea tariffs and the modernization of the alliance. Regarding the US-South Korea trade agreement, the use and profit distribution of South Korea's $350 billion (approximately NT$10.81 trillion) in US investment will also be of particular concern.
However, within the South Korean presidential office, a conservative view seems to have prevailed that it will not be easy to reach a final agreement immediately through these talks, given the sharp differences between the two countries' positions.
Trump is expected to hold a globally anticipated US-China summit with Xi Jinping on the 30th.
In addition, Trump expressed his willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Air Force One flying to Tokyo on the 27th, so whether Trump will hold a"surprise meeting" with Kim Jong-un this time has also attracted much attention.
Meanwhile, the General Administration of Missiles of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea's missile-launching authority, launched a ship-to-surface cruise missile on the 28th, the eve of Trump's visit to South Korea. Kim Jong-un's failure to respond to Trump's offer of talks and his subsequent missile launch are intriguing.
Yonhap News Agency quoted North Korea's Central News Agency as saying:"These cruise missiles have been modified for ship-based launch and used a vertical launch method. They flew over the Yellow Sea along a predetermined trajectory for more than 7,800 seconds (2 hours and 10 minutes) and destroyed the target," but did not mention the flight distance.
Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, who observed the test, said:"In accordance with the Party Central Committee's strategic intention to continuously expand the scope of use of war deterrents, our nuclear weapons are achieving important results in their operationalization." "Continuing to test the reliability and credibility of various strategic attack methods and making our adversaries aware of their power is itself an extension of deterrence and a more responsible way of execution."
