SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to deepen cooperation on strategic investment, shipbuilding and key security issues including nuclear-powered submarine fuel and wartime operational control during an impromptu meeting in New York, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
The two leaders met for about 30 minutes from 7:20 p.m. Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, welcoming what they described as significant progress in talks over South Korea's investment commitments in the United States.
They also agreed to continue follow-up discussions based on a joint fact sheet issued after their summit last November, covering nuclear-submarine fuel, uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing, shipbuilding cooperation and the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean forces.
Trump reaffirmed his willingness to engage North Korea, while the two leaders agreed to stay in close contact to help reopen dialogue and work toward what Seoul called sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The meeting had not been included in Lee's original New York schedule and came as the two governments moved closer to implementing South Korea's massive U.S. investment pledge.
The Seoul government earlier this week formally presented a $22.3 billion combined-cycle gas-fired power project in Encinal, Texas, to lawmakers as the first project under its $200 billion strategic investment program for the United States.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Seoul was prepared to transfer about $2.2 billion this month once the project receives final approval from Trump. The planned 6.3-gigawatt facility is aimed at supplying rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centers and semiconductor plants in Texas.
The $200 billion program forms part of South Korea's broader $350 billion U.S. investment commitment, with another $150 billion earmarked for shipbuilding. Seoul is also discussing the potential construction of eight large nuclear reactors in the United States and an Alaska LNG project, although those projects have yet to be finalized.
Lee brought that investment agenda directly to Wall Street on Wednesday, hosting the Korea Investment Summit 2026 in New York with about 30 financial and business leaders from the two countries.
The gathering was the second such summit since Lee took office and was designed to showcase changes in South Korea's economy, capital markets and foreign-exchange system over the past year, Cheong Wa Dae said in a written briefing Thursday.
Among the U.S. participants were BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink, Warburg Pincus Chairman and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, PIMCO CEO Emmanuel Roman and Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson.
South Korean executives included Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim, SK Group Vice Chairman Yoo Jeong-joon, Hyundai Motor Group President Sung Kim, LG CNS CEO Hyun Shin-gyoon, Hanwha Ocean CEO Chung In-sub, Doosan Enerbility CEO Song Yong-jin and APR CEO Kim Byung-hoon.
Lee pitched South Korea's AI, semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries as a new investment opportunity, outlining three large-scale projects aimed at strengthening the country's semiconductor and AI competitiveness.
He also introduced the government's "7 SEED" initiative to nurture next-generation industries including small modular reactors, nuclear fusion and renewable energy, asking global investors to participate in the country's push into advanced industries.
The president also highlighted a series of capital-market reforms, including three revisions to the Commercial Act covering directors' duties to shareholders and the principle of cancelling treasury shares, as well as plans to move toward around-the-clock foreign-exchange trading.
Lee linked those changes to a broader effort to make South Korean markets more accessible to international investors and strengthen shareholder protection.
He also returned to shipbuilding cooperation discussed with Trump the previous evening.
"Last night I had various discussions with President Trump, and one of them was cooperation in shipbuilding, including the construction of naval vessels," Lee told the gathering, expressing hope that the talks would produce tangible results.
Lee said U.S. technology and capital were increasingly being combined with South Korea's manufacturing and supply capabilities, creating scope for broader industrial cooperation between the allies.
Participants from South Korean companies separately outlined U.S. investment and partnership projects spanning biotechnology, mobility, AI, shipbuilding, nuclear energy, defense and K-beauty.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il told the gathering that gains in AI and semiconductors were improving conditions for exports, consumption and investment, while the government's fiscal position had also strengthened, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
The investment summit capped Lee's three-day stay in New York, where he delivered an address to the U.N. General Assembly, met U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and held talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as well as Trump.
Lee departed New York later Wednesday for Mexico, beginning the first state visit there by a South Korean president in 16 years.
He is scheduled Thursday to lay a wreath at Mexico City's Altar to the Homeland before attending an official welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace and holding a summit with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The two leaders are expected to discuss trade, investment and supply chains as well as cooperation in energy and minerals, AI and digital technology, aerospace, defense and cultural industries. The summit will be followed by an exchange of memorandums of understanding, a luncheon and a joint press appearance.
Lee will attend a bilateral business forum and visit a K-Expo in Mexico City on Friday before departing for South Korea on Saturday.
AJP Takeaways
- Lee-Trump ties move from pledges to execution: The impromptu New York summit focused on turning last year’s agreements into concrete cooperation on U.S. investment, shipbuilding, nuclear-powered submarine fuel and wartime operational control.
- Lee takes Korea’s growth pitch to Wall Street: At the Korea Investment Summit, Lee highlighted AI, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and energy as the core of Korea’s next growth cycle while stressing capital- and FX-market reforms aimed at global investors.
- Mexico is the next economic diplomacy stop: Lee left New York for a state visit to Mexico, where trade, supply chains, energy, technology and industrial cooperation are expected to dominate talks.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.