Minister Park Jin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly left for the United States suddenly on the 21st, saying he was coordinating related matters four days ahead of the summit between the leaders of South Korea and the United States.
According to authorities from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 21st, Minister Park departed for the United States that day. He is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs typically travels with the President as an official accompanying personnel during overseas visits. Therefore, Minister Park was initially expected to accompany President Lee Jae-myung to the Korea-Japan summit in Tokyo on the 23rd. However, as he suddenly headed to the United States, speculation has arisen that an unexpected situation related to the preparation for the Korea-U.S. summit has occurred.
President Lee is scheduled to hold the Korea-U.S. summit in Washington D.C. on the 25th (local time) following the Korea-Japan summit on the 23rd.
Minister Park's early visit to the United States was decided the day before, according to our proposal, and it is reported that the departure was arranged so hastily that he could not take a direct flight. It has also been revealed that the coordination regarding whom he will meet in Washington has not been completed, and only a few officials, including the Director of North American Affairs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will accompany Minister Park.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official noted, "Considering the significance and weight of this summit visit, being the first summit between the new administrations of Korea and the United States, he plans to visit first to conduct a thorough final check with the U.S. side on-site."
Despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' explanation, there are indications that it is highly unusual for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to skip the scheduled Korea-Japan summit and head to the U.S. This raises the possibility that urgent matters needing in-person negotiations with the U.S. may have arisen ahead of the Korea-U.S. summit.
During discussions regarding the format and content of the deliverables from the Korea-U.S. summit, it is suggested that disagreements that are difficult to resolve through discussions among working-level officials may have led the Minister of Foreign Affairs to board the aircraft directly. Specifically, this includes not only tariff negotiations but also discussions on 'alliance modernization' which the U.S. is demanding to participate in countering China, as well as the expansion of strategic flexibility of U.S. troops in South Korea, and revisions to the Korea-U.S. nuclear pact that Korea is requesting.
Some say that disagreements in agenda negotiations frequently occur even among allies, and since the Minister of Foreign Affairs is heading to Washington so urgently, there may be variables that have arisen concerning the summit schedule rather than the agenda.