In South Korea, Trump puts China first, shelves Kim Jong Un summit for now

President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea on Wednesday for the final stop of his three-country Asia tour, setting the stage for a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping while simultaneously lowering expectations for a near-term summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Upon landing in Busan and arriving at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, the president addressed a gathering of CEOs, championing his administration’s trade policies and outlining a vision to rebuild the US shipbuilding industry to counter China’s naval expansion.

Focus shifts to China as Trump downplays Kim summit

While en route to South Korea, President Trump made it clear that a meeting with North Korea’s leader was not an immediate priority.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he indicated that his focus was squarely on his upcoming discussion with President Xi.

Trump said:

I think they’d like to, and I’d like to, but I also want to focus on China.

“Our focus is now on tomorrow with China, and I want to make that the focus,” he continued.

But we’ll come back and we’ll, at some point in the not too distant future, meet with North Korea.

The president also brushed off a recent North Korean missile test, remarking, “He’s been launching missiles for decades, right?” Trump added that while he believed Kim’s schedule was “very tight,” the two had “a really good understanding of each other.”

His comments serve to manage diplomatic expectations, even as Kim has signaled a willingness to talk if Washington eases its demands on denuclearization.

Trump touts ‘revolutionary’ trade reform at APEC Summit

Addressing business leaders at the APEC CEO luncheon on Wednesday, President Trump declared that his long-standing vision for overhauling the global trade system was now a success.

Recalling a similar address in 2017 where he first argued that “economic security is national security,” Trump reasserted his position that the system was broken.

“The system had been exploited by countries that broke the rules at the expense of countries that followed the rules to a T,” he said.

Eight years later, he told the audience, “I’m back here in Asia, and I’m pleased to say that the positive vision for revolutionary reform I laid out — which seems like a long time ago — is now a reality.”

President Trump also drew a sharp distinction between his past as a real estate mogul and his current role as a world leader, adding that trade deals between nations require a different approach than aggressive business negotiations.

He explained that while in business you may “want to just rip their hearts out,” international agreements are different. “The best deals are deals that work for everybody, especially when you’re talking about nations,” he said.

Trump declared the start of a “new era of trade that truly works for both sides,” adding that he now believes in the principle that “deals have to be good for everybody.”

A call to revive US shipbuilding to counter China

In the same speech, Trump pivoted to industrial and military policy, making a direct appeal for the revival of the American shipbuilding industry as a strategic counter to China’s growing naval might.

He lamented the current state of US production compared to its past.

“During World War II, we produced a ship a day. Can you believe it? You know, tankers and freighters,” he said.

Today, we’re not really building ships.

He then alluded to the South Korean shipbuilding giant Hanwha Ocean, which acquired the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania last year, as a model for future growth.

“We’re going to start, and we’re going to have a very thriving, very thriving shipbuilding industry,” Trump stated, promising the industry, which past presidents “allowed” to “go away,” will be brought back “very, very powerfully.”

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