Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Cho Hyun, the foreign minister of South Korea, stated on Sunday that last-minute arrangements are on to schedule a summit between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and that the planned meeting will not be postponed until next month. Lee will visit the White House in two weeks, Trump said last week, after Washington agreed to reduce “reciprocal” tariffs on South Korea from the intended 25% to 15% in exchange for significant investments and market liberalization.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Cho made the comment as he returned in Seoul following consecutive trips to the US and Japan for his first meetings with his counterparts since the start of the Lee government in June. He said that his trip to the US, which included talks with high-ranking officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was an opportunity to restate Washington’s dedication to extended deterrence.
“(We) reaffirmed the steadfast South Korea-US combined response posture, and extended deterrence and agreed to continue to cooperate going forward,” Cho said.
When asked about the Trump administration’s drive to “modernize” the alliance, Cho dismissed worries that it would have an impact on Seoul’s relations with China and stated that the move entails taking a number of necessary steps, such as bolstering defense capabilities in the face of a harsh international security environment. In-depth discussions on a potential shift in the role of US forces in South Korea did not occur, according to Cho, who said the two sides decided to speak about other issues in future working-level discussions.
Cho said that he thinks the allies may come to mutually beneficial accords in the defense industry, addressing the potential that the US would try to reset security problems after the tariff deal. After the two nations achieved a tariff agreement this week, Cho Hyun met with White House officials and US Senators to address security and alliance problems, including North Korea’s nuclear program, his ministry said on Saturday. While in Washington earlier this week to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Rubio, he spoke with Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and had a phone conversation with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) on Friday, the ministry said.
