Key issues at stake in Trump-Lee summit in South Korea

SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung sits down with US President Donald Trump for the second time in two months on Oct 29, with crucial trade and security issues that could chart the future of their 72-year alliance at stake.

The following are some issues that are likely to top the agenda of their talks ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, which Mr Trump is not expected to attend.

Trade

South Korea's hope to finalise a deal on cutting US import duties on South Korean goods during Mr Trump's visit this week appears all but dashed, as negotiators for the

two sides remain deadlocked

over a US$350 billion (S$452.67 billion) investment pledge by Seoul. 

Initially heralded by South Korea as a monumental commitment that could help the US rebuild its manufacturing industries, the demand by Mr Trump for South Korea to pay the total in cash or equity "up front" has upended the preliminary deal. 

South Korean officials have said the plan was for the bulk of the US$350 billion in investment to be in the form of loans and loan guarantees to South Korean companies setting up new facilities in the US.

South Korea's Mr Lee has said such a cash outlay would destabilise the country's financial markets. 

Defence and nuclear energy

Mr Trump has argued that countries such as South Korea should pay more for the cost of US military presence - roughly 10 times the 1.5 trillion won ($1.35 billion) that was agreed by the allies for 2026. 

Mr Trump has also demanded that US allies, including the EU, spend 3.5 per cent of their GDP on defence. South Korea's defence cost is currently 2.3 per cent of GDP. 

South Korea plans to increase its defence spending by 8.3 per cent for 2026, more than double the increase for 2025.

US officials have hinted at the idea of broadening the role of the 28,500 US troops from a focus on countering North Korea to responding to security tensions with China's rise as a major military power. 

South Korea is looking to revise an agreement with the US on nuclear energy to win approval from Washington to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and enrich uranium for purely civilian energy purposes. 

North Korea

While Seoul and Washington are formally in agreement on the goal of dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, Mr Trump has said Pyongyang was already a "nuclear power," hinting at the idea of abandoning denuclearisation.

Mr Lee has made it a top priority to bring Pyongyang back to dialogue and said Mr Trump was the ideal person to entice North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 

Mr Trump has boasted of his three summits with Mr Kim during his first term, and has

expressed willingness to meet him

during this week's trip to the region. 

North Korea has not responded, although Mr Kim has said he has "fond memories" of Mr Trump from their previous meetings.

US visas for South Korean workers

The United States has pledged to improve South Korean workers' access to visas that would allow them to work in the US to set up and manage business facilities invested in by South Korean companies.

The promise, which Mr Trump has backed, follows

the arrests of more than 300 South Korean workers

by US immigration authorities at a Hyundai Motor facility in the US, which stunned South Korean officials and the public.  

The discussions have yet to yield a concrete resolution to South Korean businesses, which have resorted to a grey area in the US immigration process. REUTERS