SEOUL: US President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in South Korea on October 29 for the upcoming APEC summit, South Korea’s presidential office said Thursday.
The US president is expected to be “arriving on the 29th,” an official from the office told AFP.
US officials maintain that Trump may meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which runs until November 1.
Seoul has also said a meeting on the sidelines between the United States and North Korea “cannot be ruled out.”
South Korean media cited the national security adviser as saying that Trump is expected to stay in the southern city of Gyeongju until October 30.
A meeting with the South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will likely take place around that time, according to the reports.
Last week, Trump threatened to scrap a planned meeting with Xi at the forum, in retaliation for Beijing imposing export curbs on rare-earth technologies.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, told CNBC on Wednesday that Trump still planned to meet Xi.
Trump has also said he hopes to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again, possibly this year, while Pyongyang has said Kim is open to future talks under certain circumstances.
The pair met three times during Trump’s first term, but ultimately failed to secure a lasting agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program.
Since then, Pyongyang has declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state.
Geopolitical shift
The forum comes against a shifting geopolitical backdrop, with Kim emboldened by the war in Ukraine.
The North Korean leader has secured critical support from Russia after sending thousands of troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces.
Last month, Kim appeared alongside Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at an elaborate military parade in Beijing.
Pyongyang also showed off its “most powerful” intercontinental ballistic missile at its own parade attended by top officials from Russia and China.
Staging that “massive display of force just before South Korea hosts a major international summit is a calculated move to create anxiety and project strength,” Seong-Hyon Lee, a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Asia Center, told AFP.
“It aims to undermine confidence and highlight the new, harsher strategic reality on the peninsula.”
Trump due in South Korea on October 29 for APEC summit
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Trump due in South Korea on October 29 for APEC summit
- US President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in South Korea on October 29 for the upcoming APEC summit, South Korea’s presidential office said Thursday
Ireland moves to buy military radar system from France
- The EU member “will now immediately commence detailed negotiations with France on a potential agreement“
- Media reports estimate the cost of the new MRP system at $350-$585 million
DUBLIN: Ireland said Wednesday it plans to buy a multi-million euro military radar system from France as it prepares to host the rotating EU presidency next year amid concerns over its defense capability.
The EU member “will now immediately commence detailed negotiations with France on a potential agreement” following cabinet approval, said a statement on the government website.
A government-level approach with one country was “the only feasible way for Ireland to develop the required radar capabilities,” it said.
“This approach guarantees the use of the experience and knowledge of a trusted partner country which cannot be provided through any other option,” it said.
Media reports estimate the cost of the new “Military Radar Programme” (MRP) system at between 300 and 500 million euros ($350-$585 million).
The move comes after several unidentified drones blamed on pro-Russian actors were spotted off the Irish coast near Dublin around the time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Irish capital for a one-day visit earlier this month.
The incident emerged in a local media report only after Zelensky had left Ireland, sparking doubts over its defense capability.
The militarily neutral country which will host EU leaders summit meetings when it takes over the six-month bloc presidency in July next year maintains a small army and has no combat air force or large naval fleet.
The government is also “in final negotiations to conclude a contract before the end of the year” to provide counter-drone technology in advance of the EU presidency, Defense Minister Helen McEntee said in a statement on Wednesday.
“My department will work with the (Irish) Defense Forces to ensure that they have the capacity to identify and neutralize threats posed by drones,” she said.
