SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday had back-to-back meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who visited South Korea just a day before the scheduled U.S.-China summit in Beijing.
According to the presidential office, Lee met He and Bessent separately on Wednesday morning.
Following their meetings with the president, the two officials united at Incheon International Airport for last-minute fine-tuning ahead of the summit between the United States and China, set to take place in Beijing from Thursday.
During the meeting with Bessent, Lee reportedly explained the South Korean government's commitment to implementing investments in the United States, including the MASGA project.
It is also speculated that Lee requested cooperation on security and economic issues, such as the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, which was previously discussed between the leaders of South Korea and the U.S.
In the meeting with He - accompanied by Li Chenggang, China's international trade representative and vice minister of commerce - discussions reportedly centered on South Korea-China relations and economic cooperation measures.
Lee referred to China as a key strategic cooperative partner for South Korea and emphasized the necessity of horizontal and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two nations.
Bessent and He began a private meeting in the VIP lounge of Incheon International Airport around 12:30 p.m. Bessent arrived at Incheon Airport earlier in the morning, traveled to the Blue House to meet Lee, and then returned to the airport for the consultation.
The two sides are expected to coordinate economic and trade issues, including tariffs and global supply chain stability, ahead of the summit. Both parties entered the meeting without making any public remarks.
Bessent is flying to Japan to meet Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama before joining Trump in Beijing.
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