Pyongyang [North Korea], August 26: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he wanted to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year and that he was open to further trade talks with South Korea even as he lobbed new criticisms at the visiting Asian ally.
Trump and Lee held their first meeting in tense circumstances. The U.S. president lodged vague complaints about a "Purge or Revolution" in South Korea on social media before later walking the comments back as a likely "misunderstanding" between the allies.
Despite clinching a trade deal in July that spared South Korean exports harsher U.S. tariffs, the two sides continue to wrangle over nuclear energy, military spending, and details of a trade deal that included $350 billion in promised South Korean investments in the United States.
After meeting with Trump, Lee was to attend a business forum with senior U.S. administration officials and CEOs of South Korean companies and more than 20 U.S. firms, including the Carlyle Group, Nvidia, Boeing, GE Aerospace, Honeywell, and General Motors.
Sources told Reuters that South Korea's flag carrier, Korean Air (003490.KS), opens new tab, was expected to announce an order for about 100 Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab aircraft.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
