An aide to U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that President Trump should meet with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung first and closely cooperate with South Korea before holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Fred Fleitz, vice-chair of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a U.S. conservative think tank, outlined five steps that must be taken before President Trump's proposed summit with Kim Jong-un slated for this fall, in an op-ed published by a conservative media outlet.
Fleitz, who served as chief of staff to the White House National Security Advisor during the first Trump administration, urged that President Trump personally visit Seoul to clearly demonstrate his commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance before meeting Chairman Kim, and reinforce his message through an address to the South Korean National Assembly.
He also advised that Secretary of State Marco Rubio be dispatched to Seoul immediately to jointly finalize detailed strategies for North Korea diplomacy, including whether the South Korea-U.S. leaders will meet on the sidelines of the Apec summit in China in November or hold a standalone summit.
At the same time, Fleitz praised the Lee Jae-myung administration for showing unexpectedly strong cooperative posture across trade and security, such as increasing defense spending by 7.5%, providing additional support for U.S. Forces Korea, and engaging in large-scale shipbuilding cooperation.
He also touched upon the scaling back of annual South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises ordered by President Trump.
"If Kim Jong-un can be brought to the negotiating table, the cost is minimal," he wrote, while adding, "The reduction of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises must be closely coordinated with South Korea."
Fleitz further added that a special envoy for North Korea should be appointed to exclusively handle North Korea denuclearization negotiations, and that security alliance networks in the Indo-Pacific region centered around South Korea, the U.S., and Japan should be further strengthened.
(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Design by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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