이재명과 트럼프 대통령, 전시작전통제권 이양 및 주요 양국 현안 논의

[홀랜]

Lee and Trump welcome 'big leap forward' in strategic investment, no details disclosed

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (center left) holds summit talks with US President Donald Trump (center right) at a hotel in New York, Tuesday. (Pool photo via Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung held a 30-minute summit with US President Donald Trump Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to address key bilateral issues, including the wartime operational control transfer.

The two leaders affirmed their shared commitment to deepening cooperation in the field of nuclear-powered submarines, enrichment and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, shipbuilding, and the transfer of wartime OPCON of the South Korean military from the US to South Korea, Cheong Wa Dae's director of national security Wi Sung-lac said in a briefing to reporters Tuesday.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, follow-up coordination regarding these issues will be discussed in Washington next week.

The meeting came ahead of an annual security consultative meeting between the allies expected in November, drawing keen attention to whether talks for the wartime OPCON transfer would be on the table.

Since Lee's inauguration in June 2025, Seoul has pushed for momentum on wartime OPCON transfer, with Lee proposing a deadline of 2030.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, a significant amount of time in the Lee-Trump summit was spent on discussing the issue. Seoul provided a detailed explanation, which led to Trump's solid understanding of the matter, Cheong Wa Dae said.

"The two countries hope to finalize the process as soon as possible while ensuring the necessary conditions are met," a high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity, adding the two parties agreed to hold high-level consultations for the matter.

Moreover, Lee and Trump also welcomed a "big leap forward" in talks over strategic investment without elaborating, Wi said. This appeared to refer to South Korea's move to proceed with investment in US projects, including a proposed gas-fired combined-cycle power plant construction in Texas, under an investment package agreed upon between the two countries. In return, the tariff for South Korean exports to the US was lowered.

A high-ranking official of Cheong Wa Dae also said that during Tuesday's summit, Trump had offered that the two play golf together in the future, potentially on the occasion of a Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.

President Lee Jae Myung delivers his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. (Pool photo via Yonhap)

During the talks, Lee also reaffirmed his role as a "pacemaker" should dialogue resume between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"The two leaders pledged close communication to pave the way for (Trump's) dialogue (with Kim) while Lee plays the role of a pacemaker for Trump, and to establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," Wi said.

According to the presidential office, Seoul asked Washington to play a lead role in the North Korea detente. Trump said during the summit that he has a good relationship with Kim without elaborating on details about his communication with Kim.

Before the summit, Lee's fourth encounter with Trump, Lee repeated his narrative of himself as a "pacemaker" for Trump's peacemaking efforts, as mentioned during their first meeting at the White House in August 2025.

"As a direct party to peace on the Korean Peninsula, and as a pacemaker, my government will exert every effort to open and sustain the path toward dialogue," Lee said in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.

Hailing Trump’s efforts to resume talks with Kim as a sign of his “resolve” that has created a “hard-won opportunity for change,” Lee expressed hopes for prompt resumption of US-North Korea dialogue.

Trump and Kim have met three times, including two bilateral summits in June 2018 and February 2019.

In his speech to the UN, Lee acknowledged that the two Koreas, the US and China have sought to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula for the past decades.

"We will lay the groundwork for this to develop into a dialogue among the parties aimed at ending the war on the Korean Peninsula and transitioning to a peace regime," he added.

Trump did not mention North Korea in his earlier UN speech Tuesday.

Lee also reaffirmed his earlier push for the reduction of North Korea's nuclear capability in the medium term, which would ultimately make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

In his talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Lee asked for the UN's cooperation in his government's handling of North Korea issues, according to Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public relations and communication. Lee also stressed that his administration was striving for a peaceful coexistence of the two Koreas as the most certain form of security.

President Lee Jae Myung (left) shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

Before meeting with Trump and Guterres, Lee held talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of UN events.

Lee and Albanese discussed close cooperation in regional supply chain stability, artificial intelligence and energy between South Korea and Australia, according to the presidential office, adding that Lee was expected to travel to Australia in the first half of next year.

Lee on Wednesday was set to hold an event for Wall Street investment professionals before departing for his state visit to Mexico the same day.

consnow@heraldcorp.com