US-Korea Summit Must Go Beyond Tariffs

Next week, there will be a summit meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump in Washington.

- KIM SEONG-KON

Besides the tariff issue on which the two countries recently reached an agreement, experts say that there will be a lot to discuss at the meeting, such as cost-sharing for the US troops deployed in Korea, changing the role of US troops on the Korean Peninsula, and transferring wartime operational control of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command.

The Korean people will be anxiously watching this important event with high expectations that President Lee may return home with fruitful results. However, the higher our hopes, the greater our disappointment will be. The current situation is not in our favor, as the Trump administration's outstanding policy is "America First"—not "other countries first" or "our allies first."

Moreover, we hold no advantage at the negotiation table. Anyway, a summit meeting is not usually the place for tense negotiations. Rather, they are symbolic events that confirm mutual friendship between countries. Usually, policymakers conduct negotiations behind the scenes in advance. Thus, instead of having high hopes for the summit, we should brace ourselves for the outcome, whatever it may be.

Under the circumstances, we can only hope that the two presidents become good friends during the summit, and that the friendship continues in the future. Then, the two leaders can discuss and negotiate a host of other matters later—there is no need to rush.