President Lee Jae Myung (third from right) and first lady Kim Hea Kyung (right) on Aug. 24 are greeted by acting U.S. Chief of Protocol Abby Jones at the military facility Joint Base Andrews in Maryland near Washington. (Yonhap News)
By Jeon Misun
President Lee Jae Myung on Aug. 24 arrived in the U.S. after concluding his trip to Japan.
He departed from Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Aug. 23 and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland near Washington that afternoon for a three-day visit.
Immediately after arrival, President Lee attended a dinner with ethnic Korean residents of the U.S. before his bilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Aug. 25.
Both leaders are expected to discuss key agenda including fine-tuning details of their bilateral tariff agreement concluded last month, strategic flexibility of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), transfer of wartime operational control, possible increase in Korea's financial share of the USFK and revisions of a bilateral accord on the use of nuclear energy.
National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac said, "The three key issues at this summit are economic and trade stabilization, modernization of the Korea-U.S. alliance and exploring new areas of cooperation."
Coming just 82 days after President Lee's inauguration, the talks and their outcomes are expected to greatly influence the momentum of his administration.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun flew to the U.S. ahead of President Lee, who is also accompanied on his trip by Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik.
msjeon22@korea.kr
