South Korea’s Lee proposes Trump’s meeting with North’s Kim
Lee Jae Myung pledges higher defense budget, while South Korean companies plan $150B investments in US
ANKARA
South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung has suggested that US President Donald Trump meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year.
Lee invited Trump to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held this fall in North Gyeongsang province, eastern South Korea.
He "encouraged" Trump to pursue a meeting with Kim "if possible," said South Korean presidential office spokesman Kang Yoo-jung in a briefing on Tuesday.
Trump called the proposal "a very wise suggestion," said Kang.
The South Korean president met for his first summit with Trump at the White House on Monday during his two-day trip to the US.
Trump has met Kim thrice during his first term, including once at the Demilitarized Zone, which divides the two Koreas.
East Asian nations’ companies have also pledged an investment of about $150 billion in the US, in addition to the earlier pledge of a $350 billion investment fund for projects in the US as part of the tariff pact of 15% between Washington, DC, and Seoul.
Lee also said South Korea would increase defense spending as part of efforts to play a more “leading role” in maintaining security on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea hosts some 28,500 US troops, an arrangement that started in the wake of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, he said South Korea would allocate more resources to strengthen its military capabilities.
"South Korea will take on a more leading role in maintaining security on the Korean Peninsula. First of all, (we) will increase defense spending," he said.
Lee didn't say by how much South Korea will increase defense spending.
The Trump administration has urged allies to spend up to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, a figure that far exceeds South Korea’s current 2.32%.
The country’s defense budget this year stands at 61.2 trillion won ($44 billion).
"At the summit meeting, President Trump and I agreed to modernize our bilateral alliance to be more reciprocal and future-oriented in line with the changing security landscape," he said.
*Islamuddin Sajid in Islamabad contributed to this story
