U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attend a press conference at the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 7, 2017. (Xinhua/POOL)
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday agreed to peacefully resolve issues on the Korean Peninsula and swiftly push negotiations for a fair free trade deal between the two countries.
President Moon told a joint press conference with the U.S. leader after a bilateral meeting in the presidential residence that they reached an agreement to peacefully resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and to settle a permanent peace regime on the peninsula.
The U.S. president told the press conference that he did not wish to use force against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), urging the Asian country to return to a dialogue table and make a deal benefiting both Pyongyang and the entire world.
Asked about whether to accept a direct dialogue offer from the DPRK, Trump declined to comment on it.
Trump took issue with the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, called KORUS FTA, telling the press conference that the current free trade pact with South Korea was "unsuccessful and not very good for the United States."
However, he said he was "confident" that the two sides will be able to reach a "free, fair and reciprocal" trade deal.
Moon told reporters that he and Trump agreed to rapidly push for negotiations on the KORUS FTA to enjoy benefits from a "free, fair and balanced" trade.
Before the summit, Trump told officials of both sides that he appreciated South Korea's big purchase of U.S. military weapons and anticipated the purchase to narrow the U.S. deficit in trade with South Korea.
"You'll be buying a lot of our military equipment. There's nobody that comes close whether it's the planes, missiles, ships and anything you wanna talk about," said Trump.
Describing trade as "one of my favorite subjects," Trump said the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea will be brought down, as the amount of military equipment the country will order from the U.S. will be increased "very substantially."
Trump, on the second stop of his lengthy Asian tour, arrived in South Korea around noon, visiting Camp Humphreys, a newly renovated U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, about 40 km south of Seoul.
During talks at the camp, the two sides reassured of their mutual military commitment, including the U.S. providing the so-called strategic military assets.
