U.S. President Donald Trump is reported to have expressed his willingness to meet with the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand at the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit to be held in The Hague, Netherlands, starting on the 24th. Lee Jae-myung, the president of South Korea, has previously expressed his intention not to attend the meeting.
According to Nikkei Asia on the 23rd, Trump indicated his intention to meet with the leaders of the four Asia-Pacific countries during the temporary meeting held in The Hague. The meeting is expected to include Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
According to sources cited by Nikkei, President Trump views this meeting as an opportunity to expand security cooperation between the United States and NATO member countries in Europe. This comes as Russia and China pose increasingly severe threats across various domains, including cyber space and space development.
South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand form the IP4, NATO members in the Indo-Pacific region.
Discussions regarding defense expenditure are also expected to take place during this summit. Currently, NATO member countries spend more than 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, and this meeting is expected to adjust that figure up to 3.5%, adding costs necessary for crisis infrastructure to bring the total to 5%.
There is also a possibility that demands for increased defense expenditure could be made regarding South Korea and Japan. South Korea spent about 66 trillion won on defense, which is 2.8% of its GDP last year. Trump has stated that “South Korea should also increase its defense expenditure to 5% of GDP.”
However, it is expected that the meeting between the two sides will not take place, as President Lee Jae-myung has previously expressed his intention not to attend the NATO meeting.
On the 22nd, the presidential office announced through a written briefing that “the president has actively considered attending the NATO summit, but has decided not to attend in person after comprehensively considering various domestic issues and the uncertainties related to the situation in the Middle East.”
Earlier, President Lee was scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump on the second day of the G7 summit on the 17th, but the meeting was canceled as President Trump abruptly returned home due to the military conflict in the Middle East.