A great honour: Trump shaking hands with Lee (right) during a presentation ceremony, where the former was presented with a replica of a crown worn by the kings of Silla, at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju. -- AFP
US President Donald Trump began the final leg of his Asia trip in South Korea, optimistic about advancing an unresolved tariff deal with President Lee Jae-myung and striking a trade war truce with China's Xi Jinping.
Arriving from Tokyo yesterday hours after North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, Trump received a lavish reception from Lee in Gyeongju, a historic city hosting this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.
His talks with Xi are set for today in the port city of Busan.
Speaking earlier to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea, Trump dismissed the North Korea missile test and said he was squarely focused on his meeting with the leader of the world's second-largest economy.
"I think we're going to have a very good outcome for our country and for the world, actually," Trump said.
He expects to reduce US tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing's commitment to curb exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals, he added.
The United States could halve the levies of 20% on Chinese goods it now charges in retaliation for the export of such chemicals, the Wall Street Journal said.
China's foreign ministry said the meeting of the two leaders would "inject new momentum into the development of US-China relations" and Beijing was ready to work together for "positive outcomes".
Speaking at a summit of Apec CEOs in Gyeongju before his meeting with Lee, Trump said a trade deal with South Korea would be finalised "very soon", though officials on both sides have been downplaying the prospect of a breakthrough this week.
The allies unveiled a deal in late July under which Seoul would avoid the worst of the tariffs by agreeing to pump US$350bil (RM1.4 trillion) of new investments into the United States. But talks over the structure of those investments have been deadlocked.
Meeting Lee at the nearby Gyeongju National Museum, Trump was presented with a gold crown and the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the country's highest decoration worn as an elaborate sash and medal.
"I'd like to wear it right now," Trump quipped.
At the start of a working lunch topped off with a "golden dessert", Lee pledged to spend more on defence as he sought to head off a Trump concern that allies are not pulling their weight militarily.
He also asked that the United States allow the country to reprocess nuclear fuel to power submarines. Seoul is barred from doing so without US consent, under a pact between the countries.
Trump pledged to help "straighten out" South Korea's problems with its nuclear-armed northern neighbour. The two are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Trump, who has repeatedly called for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on this trip, said the timings would not work out.
Skipping the main Apec summit, Trump plans a dinner with Lee and bilateral meetings with several countries' leaders, including China's Xi, before he departs today.
Negotiators from the world's top two economies hashed out a framework on Sunday for a deal to pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said. The news sent stocks to record peaks.
Beijing has been more circumspect about the prospect of an agreement, but in a possible sign of thawing, China bought its first cargoes of US soybeans in several months.
The lack of Chinese buying has cost US farmers, a key support base for Trump, billions of dollars in lost sales.
Trump's trip to South Korea concludes a whirlwind swing through the region, among the hardest hit by his tariff policies and increased US-China competition. -- Reuters