FM Cho departs early for Washington ahead of Lee-Trump summit

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun headed for the United States on Thursday, days before President Lee Jae Myung is set to depart for his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, a ministry official said. Cho had been initially expected to accompany Lee to Japan on Saturday for Lee's summit talks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, but will apparently not be accompanying Lee on his trip to Tokyo. "Given the significance and weight of this U.S. visit and the fact that it will be the first summit between Korea and the U.S. since the launch of the new government, we will be visiting first to make final coordination with the U.S. side," the official said. Lee is scheduled to travel to Washington for his summit with Trump on Aug. 25. It is not unusual for a foreign minister to visit a nation earlier than scheduled without accompanying a president, but Cho's trip to the U.S. raised speculations that there may be consultations with the U.S. side ahead of summit talks between Lee and Trump. Cho's trip was reportedly decided just the previous day by Korea, and his schedule in Washington has not beenWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times