Yoon may meet Trump on way back from APEC, G20 summits

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a meeting Sunday to review economic and security conditions in the wake of former US President Donald Trump's election victory last week. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol could stop by the United States to hold talks with US President-elect Donald Trump after two series of multilateral summits in South American countries he heads to later this week.

When asked about the possibility of Yoon meeting Trump on the occasion of his upcoming trip to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru and the Group of 20 summit in Brazil, an official of the presidential office said Tuesday, "We are closely communicating with representatives of Trump over the matter," adding there are "a lot of variables" for the meeting to materialize. The US president-elect is reportedly based in Mar-a-Lago in Florida for his presidential transition.

In an earlier phone call between Yoon and Trump upon his declaration of the US presidential election victory on Wednesday Seoul time, the two promised to hold a meeting on the earliest date possible, according to the presidential office.

Should the meeting take place, Yoon would become the first South Korean president to have met a US president-elect since South Korea's first President Syngman Rhee, who met the then-US President-elect Dwight Eisenhower right after his victory in 1952, during the Korean War.

The official also said that Yoon may hold trilateral talks with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba -- in the spirit of the Washington Declaration in 2023 to strengthen commitment to North Korea denuclearization -- as well as separate bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the multilateral summit.

"Biden promised to hold the three-way talks in a follow-up (of the 2023 meeting in Camp David) before his four-year term ends, and we are proactively working to hold one on the occasion of the multilateral summit," the official said.

"(Seoul) has suggested that the schedule of a trilateral summit be fixed after the US presidential election, and things are proceeding as suggested."

The official also said chances of talks between Yoon and Xi are "high." Yoon and Xi met on the sidelines of the 2023 APEC summit in San Francisco, Calif.

Another official of the presidential office said the topic of the potential meeting of Yoon and Xi is unlikely to be prearranged, adding that discussions would likely be made in a broader sense.

On the same day, Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser, said in a briefing Tuesday that Yoon's office is working to hold bilateral talks with his counterparts in Vietnam, Mexico, Japan and Brunei.

Kim said Yoon is set to arrive in Lima, Peru on Thursday to attend the 2024 APEC summit and stay there for four days. Yoon will also meet Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Saturday for an official visit to Peru.

Yoon will fly from Lima to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday to attend the G20 summit. Kim did not elaborate on the timing of Yoon's return to South Korea. According to the presidential office, Yoon is likely to return on Nov. 21 but there is a chance of his itinerary being rescheduled with his meeting with Trump is being discussed.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)