Lee, Trump hold third summit; golf round in November possible

President Lee Jae Myung met with US President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday (local time), on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, welcoming the successful conclusion of investment negotiations with the United States. It was the third summit between the two leaders.

Wi Sung-lac, director of the Cheong Wa Dae National Security Office, told reporters at a press center in New York that the two leaders held a bilateral summit beginning at 7:30 p.m. and lasting about 30 minutes.

The two leaders welcomed the significant progress made in strategic, investment and project discussions between the two countries.

Seoul had confirmed the construction of a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Encinal, Texas, as the first project under a $200 billion US investment commitment made during tariff negotiations, and the summit gave both leaders an occasion to formally welcome that agreement.

Trump reaffirmed his willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea, Wi said, adding that the two leaders agreed to stay in close communication as "peacemakers and pacemakers" in pursuit of sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Wi said the two sides also confirmed their shared commitment to deepen cooperation in areas including nuclear submarine fuel, uranium enrichment and reprocessing, shipbuilding and the transfer of wartime operational control, building on a joint fact sheet issued last November, and agreed to pursue follow-up measures.

Seoul had worked through multiple channels to secure the meeting even before departing for New York, and the encounter was ultimately arranged on the day of the summit itself.

Trump, whose schedule had been packed since morning, wrapped up his day with the meeting with Lee.

According to a senior Cheong Wa Dae official, Trump opened the conversation by asking after Lee's wife, then said the two should play golf together. The two leaders also discussed the possibility of getting in a round on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Miami in November.

The South Korean government's push to hold the summit was driven in large part by the recent progress in investment negotiations with Washington.

"The biggest factor behind the meeting was progress on the investment front," the official said, adding that follow-up consultations in Washington had been agreed upon to advance issues including investment, shipbuilding cooperation, a nuclear energy agreement and nuclear submarines. On timing, the official said Seoul hoped to move "as quickly as possible."

Earlier in the day, Lee delivered a keynote address to the UN General Assembly emphasizing peace on the Korean Peninsula, calling on Trump to pursue US-North Korea dialogue and noting that a Korean Peninsula peace framework was a goal long shared and discussed by the two Koreas as well as the United States, China and other parties involved. The theme carried over into the summit.

"We expressed the hope that President Trump would contribute to resolving this issue, and President Trump said he would," the official said. "Since inter-Korean contact is almost nonexistent right now, the sense was that it would be good for the United States to help move things forward — that was the gist of what was said at the summit."

With the United States pressing South Korea for a "contribution" related to the Strait of Hormuz, no discussion of military contributions took place between the two leaders.

"There was no discussion of the Strait of Hormuz," the official said. "Neither side made any particular mention of it."

"Quite a bit of time was spent on wartime operational control," the official added, calling it the first time the issue had been discussed at the summit level. Lee has repeatedly stated that the transfer of wartime operational control must be pursued without delay within his term, in line with the government's plan.