US President Donald Trump, along with his top advisers, is reportedly preparing to visit South Korea in October for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministerial summit, possibly in an effort to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, CNN reported on Saturday.
Last month, Xi invited Trump and his wife to China, and Trump extended a reciprocal invitation, although no dates were set.
Details of the trip are still not finalized. White House officials told CNN that the administration hopes it will be an opportunity for Trump to negotiate more economic investments for the US, as he has accomplished in his recent overseas visits.
“A visit to South Korea is being discussed, which would focus on economic collaboration,” the American news site quoted a White House official as saying. The official also mentioned that the other goals would be discussing defense, civil nuclear cooperation, and trade.
In a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung last week, Myung invited Trump to join the APEC summit. Sources told CNN that it was mentioned that this could be a potential opportunity to meet with Kim Jong Un.
When addressing reporters, Trump told Lee he was open to meeting with the North Korean leader.
“I will do that, and we’ll have talks. He’d like to meet with me,” Trump claimed. “We look forward to meeting with him, and we’ll make relations better.”
Xi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kim, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Beijing this past week in conjunction with China's military parade. Trump reacted to this meeting with a social media post: “May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America.”
On Friday, Trump shared a photo of the world leaders with the post, “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
When speaking to reporters, Trump explained, “I understood the reason they were doing it, and they were hoping I was watching – and I was watching,” Trump said, calling it a “beautiful ceremony” and “very impressive.”
“My relationship with all of them is very good. We’re going to find out how good it is over the next week or two,” Trump said.
The alliance between China, Russia, and Iran
Last week, UN Security Council permanent members China and Russia backed Iran on Monday in rejecting a move by European countries to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran loosened a decade ago under a nuclear agreement.
A letter signed by the foreign ministers of China, Russia, and Iran stated that a move by Britain, France, and Germany to automatically restore sanctions under a so-called "snapback mechanism" was "legally and procedurally flawed."
China and Russia were signatories to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, along with the three European countries, known as the E3. Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in his first term in 2018.
Reuters contributed to this report.