美国国家公共电台 NPR In Trump Meeting With South Korean Leader, A Chance To Reaffirm 'Ironclad' Ties

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

South Korea's new president visits President Trump 1 today. They share a common problem - South Korea's neighbor, North Korea. Here's NPR's Elise Hu.

ELISE HU, BYLINE 2: Listen closely to what U.S. leaders say about America's 60-plus-year alliance with South Korea. Something in the language perpetually pops up.

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JAMES MATTIS: America's commitments to defending our allies remain ironclad.

HU: That was Defense 3 Secretary Jim Mattis in Seoul in March. Here, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson weeks later.

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REX TILLERSON: The ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea has remained strong.

HU: And Vice 4 President Mike Pence in Seoul in April.

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VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: The United States' commitment to South Korea is ironclad.

HU: Hear a pattern there?

DAVID KANG: It really is ironclad, you know. You know, it is ironclad.

HU: David Kang heads the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California.

KANG: (Laughter) You know, in some ways, if you have to say it too much, that means you're a little worried about it, right?

HU: Despite commitments from both Seoul and Washington that the U.S.-Korea alliance is as strong and ironclad as it's ever been, the administrations on both sides of the Pacific are new and untested. While the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, comes in with government experience the American leader lacks, he did just start last month.

KANG: The Moon administration isn't really staffed up yet, isn't really prepared for a summit. And certainly, the Trump side isn't really prepared for a summit. They don't really have a policy in place. The Trump administration doesn't have an ambassador to Korea, for example. They don't have a lot of the State Department and Defense officials for East Asia in place.

HU: On top of that, Moon takes a slightly different tack 5 than the U.S. and his predecessors 6 on North Korea, which is expected to dominate the summit. Moon has favored engagement with Pyongyang and is open to talks to get to a freeze on nuclear provocations 7.

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PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN: (Speaking Korean).

HU: "For too long we have been closed off from each other," Moon said in a speech last week. "Our government will find ways to restore inter-Korean relations and to reopen dialogue." The Trump administration has so far rejected the idea of talks to get to any freeze. It instead outlined a policy of increasing sanctions and pressure on North Korea, following the same path the Obama administration took for years.

The U.S. has also begun deploying 8 its missile defense system, THAAD, on South Korean soil, but President Moon is slowing it down for an environmental review first. That could be an issue of contention 9, but David Kang says for this first summit, appearances are the main objective.

KANG: They just want to have a good photo-op, not screw anything up and hopefully not talk about anything too much of substance precisely 10 because neither side is really ready to talk about it yet.

HU: The clock's ticking. Analysts 11 say North Korea's weapons capabilities 12 are getting better with each successive test. But whatever tensions brew 13 below the surface, the language at the summit will likely stay the same. Expect to hear something about the U.S.-Korea alliance being, you guessed it, ironclad. Elise Hu, NPR News, Seoul.

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