WASHINGTON/SEOUL — South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, will face a pivotal moment on Monday when he meets US President Donald Trump in Washington for their first summit, as the countries’ decades-old alliance strains to confront rapid geopolitical changes.

Much is riding on the meeting for Lee, who took office in June after a snap election called after his conservative predecessor — feted in Washington for his hard line on North Korea — was removed for attempting to impose martial law., This news data comes from:http://nojo.aichuwei.com

South Korea’s economy relies heavily on the US with Washington underwriting its security with troops and nuclear deterrence. 

Lee hopes to chart a balanced path of cooperation with the US, while not antagonizing top trade partner China.

As he headed to the US, Lee sent a special delegation to Beijing, which delivered a message calling for normalized relations with China that have been strained in recent years.

South Korea has long come under targeted criticism from Trump, who has called it a “money machine” that takes advantage of American military protection.

As part of his preparations for the summit, Lee told reporters during his flight to Washington that he had read “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”

Lee, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, will highlight some of South Korea’s expected investments when he visits a shipyard in Philadelphia owned by the country’s Hanwha Group after the summit. 

South Korea's Lee faces pivotal test at first summit with Trump

Cooperation to help the ailing US shipbuilding sector is part of the broad tariff agreement reached between the countries.

Engaging North Korea 

Trump is expected to pressure Lee to commit to more spending on defense, including potentially billions of dollars more toward the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea.

Wi Sung-lac, Lee’s top security adviser, said South Korea was in talks with Washington over defense spending, taking as a refe­rence NATO’s agreement on a big new defense spending target. 

Wi added that the government was also looking into a plan for the purchase of American weapons.

While focusing on increasing military spending, Lee will likely seek to avoid conversations about a potential reduction of US troops or using them for a wider range of operations, or details on modernizing the alliance, said Duyeon Kim, from the Center for a New American Security.

Lee told reporters it would be difficult for Seoul to accept the demand by the US to adopt “flexibility” in operating the US military stationed in South Korea.

“They should leave those topics for working-level officials to hash out,” Kim said. “Ambition could backfire.”

Trump and Lee may also discuss efforts to persuade North Korea to freeze and eventually abandon its nuclear weapons program. 

Both leaders support engaging Pyongyang, and Lee has called for a phased approach to denuclearization.

Before Lee’s meeting with Trump, the South Korean leader traveled to Tokyo to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday to underscore the importance of cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the US.

A commentary carried by North Korea’s state media on Monday criticized Lee’s “despicable” trip to Tokyo as a “begging message towards the master of the White House” by highlighting trilateral military cooperation.