Overview

• An Oval Office meeting is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. ET Monday followed by a bilateral lunch at 12:45 p.m., according to the White House.
• Leaders are expected to review implementation of the late-July deal that lowered U.S. tariffs on Korean goods to 15% in exchange for roughly $350 billion in South Korean investment pledges.
• U.S. officials are likely to press for increased defense spending, higher cost-sharing for U.S. troops and greater strategic flexibility for USFK, which President Lee said would be difficult for Seoul to accept.
• Seoul’s national security adviser said a wartime operational control transfer will not be discussed at the summit, while North Korea policy and deterrence are slated for talks.
• Lee arrived from a Tokyo visit that produced a rare Korea–Japan joint statement and brings a large business delegation, with a post-summit stop planned at Hanwha’s Philly Shipyard to highlight industrial cooperation.