President Lee and Trump Discuss Security Cooperation, Including Nuclear Submarines and the Transfer of Wartime Operational Control

President Lee Jaemyung and U.S. President Donald Trump held a summit in New York on the 22nd (local time) and discussed pending security issues between South Korea and the United States, including nuclearpowered submarines, uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, and the transfer of wartime operational control. National Security Director Wi Sunglac said the two leaders held talks for about 30 minutes and welcomed the recent progress in discussions on U.S. investment and strategic investment. This meeting was made possible on the occasion of their attendance at the UN General Assembly, and took the form of a formal summit rather than the short meeting that had originally been expected. President Lee expressed Korea's intention to take on more responsibility for the defense of the Korean Peninsula and asked that discussions on nuclearpowered submarines be expedited. The two sides also mentioned the transfer of wartime operational control, cooperation in shipbuilding, and the possibility of resuming North KoreaU.S. dialogue, and agreed to strengthen security cooperation on the Korean Peninsula.