Korea-US summit overruns, delaying Trump speech by 30 minutes; US courtesies extended to first lady Kim Hye-kyung

President Lee Jae Myung meets with US President Donald Trump at a hotel in New York on Tuesday (local time), on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung meets with US President Donald Trump at a hotel in New York on Tuesday (local time), on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. [Yonhap]

Specific plans for a year-end golf outing came up during President Lee Jae Myung's summit with US President Donald Trump in New York, Cheong Wa Dae said.

A Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters Sunday that during the summit, Trump turned to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and said, "Try to get a schedule set up" for a round of golf.

It was Trump who first raised the subject of golf during the Tuesday (local time) meeting. Trump opened by saying they should play a round together, and when Lee responded by suggesting a game in Miami in December, Trump directed his aide to lock in a date.

It was the third time the two leaders had discussed a golf outing — following their meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Évian, France, in June and the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July.

Trump has made a habit of playing golf with foreign leaders he regards as major partners, making a potential outing a symbolically significant marker of the Korea-US relationship if it comes to pass.

Reflecting the warmth between the two leaders, the summit ran well past its allotted time. Trump extended his one-on-one meeting with Lee so long that he arrived roughly 30 minutes late to deliver remarks at a reception attended by leaders from multiple countries.

The Korea-US summit had originally been scheduled as a brief 10-minute meeting starting at 7:20 p.m. — 20 minutes after the Trump-hosted reception began — with Trump's keynote address set for 7:30 p.m.

But the conversation between the two leaders showed no sign of ending, and Trump did not take the podium for his keynote until around 8 p.m., about 30 minutes behind schedule.

The American courtesies extended to first lady Kim Hye-kyung as well.

At a luncheon hosted that same day by Melania Trump for the "Future for All, For All the Future" (FTFT) coalition, Melania arrived early and the assembled spouses of other world leaders held their group photo formation — leaving Kim's spot open — until Kim arrived on time, at which point the photo was taken.

A White House official explained the wait, saying South Korea was "the first and an important partner to join the FTFT initiative through an agreement," according to the Cheong Wa Dae official.


sang@heraldcorp.com