White House confirms Trump to meet Xi in South Korea as part of Asia tour

A major regional economic summit scheduled for next week will be held in South Korea, according to the White House, which will include a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump will meet with Xi in South Korea on October 30 for a “bilateral meeting,” according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, before heading back to Washington.

On October 31 and November 1, the city of Gyeongju will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, an intergovernmental forum promoting free trade between 21 nations located along the Pacific Rim.

Trump’s participation in the APEC summit itself was not made clear by Leavitt.

Trump earlier confirmed his meeting with Xi by saying the leaders “have a pretty long meeting scheduled,” before adding that he hoped the superpowers could “work out a lot of our doubts and questions.”

“I believe something will work out,” he said. Trump said as he addressed questions with NATO’s Mark Rutte at the White House, “We have a very good relationship, but that will be a significant one.”

In the midst of rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, Trump and Xi will meet. If there isn’t a deal reached, the US leader threatened to impose higher levies on Chinese imports into the US. He has already imposed a 30% tariff.

After imposing his first sanctions against Moscow on Wednesday since returning to the White House, Trump added that he will press Xi to avert Chinese companies from purchasing Russian oil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to “end this senseless war” in Ukraine was the cause of the sanctions package, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which targeted Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.

Leavitt stated that Trump would leave the White House on Friday night before setting foot in Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, which will take place on Sunday morning, local time. Leavitt also stated that the US leader would travel to the White House on Friday night.

On Sunday, President Trump will meet with the Malaysian prime minister’s counterpart in the afternoon and then attend the ASEAN leaders’ working dinner that evening, she said.

The US leader will then travel to Tokyo on Monday morning for a meeting with Sanae Takaichi, the country’s new prime minister, on Tuesday.

Leavitt stated that Trump would then “visit Busan on Wednesday [October 29] morning for a bilateral meeting with the president of the Republic of Korea, deliver a keynote address at the APEC CEO luncheon, and attend the leaders’ working dinner that evening.”

According to The Korea Economic Daily newspaper, Korean government officials later confirmed that the meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung would take place in Gyeongju, where the APEC summit is being held this year.

According to the officials, the mix-up is most likely related to Busan’s alleged location, which is where the US-China summit will take place. In her remarks to reporters on Thursday, Leaditt did not confirm where Trump would meet with Xi.

According to South Korean security adviser Wi Sung-lac, President Lee intends to meet with Trump and Xi separately.

We will highlight South Korea’s role as a platform as well as foster consensus for peace, prosperity, and stability in the region through a series of summits, according to Wi told reporters.

He continued, “South Korea is hoping to move forward with Washington on issues involving tariffs and security,” but he had no idea when a deal would be reached.