U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent and China’s He Lifeng to Visit South Korea... ‘Seoul Talks’ on the 13th Ahead of Summit

Top trade negotiators from the United States and China will meet in Seoul just before the summit. With the Beijing summit between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping approaching, South Korea is emerging as a venue for coordinating U.S.-China economic diplomacy.
Scott Bessent, the United States Secretary of the Treasury, who is accompanying Trump on his trip to China, said on X on the 10th, U.S. time, that he would visit Japan and South Korea ahead of the historic summit between Trump and Xi.
Bessent is scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama, and private-sector officials in Tokyo on the 12th to discuss U.S.-Japan economic ties.
He then announced that he would visit Seoul on the 13th for talks with He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The high-level negotiations, which are intended to coordinate ahead of the U.S.-China summit, will be held in Seoul rather than Beijing.
China also confirmed the meeting officially. MOFCOM said on its website that Vice Premier He Lifeng will visit South Korea on the 12th and 13th for economic and trade talks with the United States. It added that the two sides will negotiate economic and trade issues of mutual concern in line with the important consensus reached by the two leaders at the Busan summit and in several phone calls.
The talks are expected to cover tariffs, semiconductor, battery and rare earth supply chains, export controls on China, and exchange rates. As the Trump administration has recently emphasized economic security as a core diplomatic principle, strategic industry issues between the two countries are also likely to be on the agenda.
The fact that key U.S.-China economic talks are being held in Seoul is also highlighting South Korea’s diplomatic and economic standing. As the United States and China move to deepen cooperation with South Korea in supply chains and advanced industries, Seoul is taking on the role of a strategic coordination hub.
However, it has not yet been disclosed whether Bessent will hold a separate meeting with Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, during his visit to South Korea. Bessent said, "Economic security is national security," adding, "I look forward to this meeting being productive as we advance President Donald Trump’s America First economic agenda."
Meanwhile, Trump and Xi will meet in Beijing on the 14th and 15th of this month.
km@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-min Reporter