Seoul, Feb 24 (IANS) A potential trip to South Korea by a US delegation for negotiations on security issues is being delayed due to scheduling matters, a senior Seoul official said Tuesday, dismissing speculation that the delay was related to trade issues.
The US delegation had been widely expected to visit South Korea as early as late February to discuss security issues under a joint fact sheet that ranges from Seoul’s bid to build nuclear-powered submarines to bilateral cooperation on nuclear energy and shipbuilding. But the schedule for the trip has not been confirmed yet, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Concerns have risen that last week’s US Supreme Court ruling against US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs could delay Seoul’s negotiations with Washington over the security issues.
The Seoul official said a delay in the US delegation’s trip is about “scheduling” issues, dismissing concerns that uncertainty in the trade environment following the tariff ruling is affecting the allies’ security-related talks to implement the joint summit agreements.
“Progress is being stalled a little bit due to difficulty in predicting the US political situation and other complex factors, including the Iran issue, Russia’s war with Ukraine, and (planned) summit talks between the United States and China,” the official said.
He said South Korea has left open the possibility of Seoul officials visiting the US to proceed with security-related negotiations if the US delegation’s trip to Seoul is further delayed.
The allies seek to implement the joint summit document that includes Washington’s approval of Seoul’s push to build nuclear-powered submarines, and the pursuit of civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing rights.
Last week, South Korea’s defence minister has lodged a protest with the US Forces Korea (USFK) early this week over its brief standoff with Chinese fighter jets during a rare air exercise, military sources said.
South Korea’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back has delivered a complaint in a call with General Xavier Brunson, the commander of the Combined Forces Command and the United States Forces Korea, immediately after he received a report of the incident on Wednesday, according to the sources.
General Jin young-sung, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also lodged a complaint in a call with Gen. Brunson, they added.
On Wednesday, US and Chinese fighter jets engaged in a rare standoff over the Yellow Sea during a training operation of the U.S. Air Force, which involved some 10 USFK F-16 fighter jets.
The F-16 jets reportedly flew to an area between the respective air defence identifications zones of South Korea and China, prompting the Chinese military to dispatch its own fighter jets to the scene, but no clash occurred.
The USFK had notified the South Korean military of its plan ahead of the exercise but apparently did not elaborate on the details, including the purpose of the drills, officials have said.
–IANS
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