President Lee's first U.S. summit

[Anchor]

Now, attention shifts to Washington, D.C.

After concluding the Korea-Japan summit, President Lee Jae Myung is heading to the United States for a meeting with President Trump.

Once he arrives, a summit aimed at setting a new direction for Korea-U.S. relations will take place.

Our reporter has already arrived in Washington, D.C.

Reporter Bang Jun-won! The messages expected from this summit are likely to have a significant impact on both national security as well as the economy for some time to come.

Is the preparation for the meeting going smoothly?

[Reporter]

Yes, the first summit between President Lee and U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to take place early the day after tomorrow (Aug. 26), Korea time.

This will be the first Korea-U.S. summit just 82 days into President Lee’s term.

President Lee will arrive in the U.S. tomorrow (Aug. 25) morning, and start his schedule with a dinner with the Korean-American community, and will engage in various activities the following day.

These include the summit itself, a business roundtable with figures from the Korea-U.S. economic sector, and a speech invited by the U.S. think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

On the final day of the visit, he also plans to travel to Philadelphia to visit the shipyard acquired by Hanwha Ocean.

[Anchor]

It is quite unusual for key government officials, excluding the Prime Minister, particularly the Chief of Staff to the President, to accompany this visit to the U.S.

Has there been any last-minute complications in agenda coordination?

[Reporter]

There has been speculation that the unusual composition of the delegation might be causing difficulties in finalizing coordination for the summit agenda.

In response, the presidential office explained that the success of this summit is of utmost importance, and both the public and private sectors are working closely to ensure the best possible outcome.

They clarified that it is not so much that there are problems, but rather that they are making efforts for a more successful meeting.

While specific details of the agenda coordination have not been disclosed, there will likely be discussions on the details of the tariff negotiations that were concluded at the end of last month, as well as diplomatic and security issues such as North Korea's nuclear program and the modernization of the Korea-U.S. security alliance.

New areas of cooperation between Korea and the U.S., such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence, are also expected to be discussed.

The revision of the Korea-U.S. nuclear agreement may also be incorporated in the discussions.

This has been Bang Jun-won reporting from Washington for KBS News.