Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, was scheduled to visit Korea from the 8th to the 9th next week to meet with President Lee Jae-myung, but it was reported that the plan has been canceled.
According to the State Department on the 3rd, Secretary Rubio's team conveyed their intention to cancel to the South Korean government five days before the visit. This marked the cancellation of the first meeting with a senior U.S. official since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.
On the same day, the presidential office stated in a statement, "The U.S. and Korea have kept the possibility of Secretary Rubio's visit open and have been in discussions, but due to internal circumstances in the U.S., it seems difficult for him to visit for the time being," adding that "the two countries will continue to discuss high-level personnel exchanges."
Secretary Rubio will attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as scheduled on the 10th.
Some are questioning whether there is an issue with U.S.-Korea relations given that Secretary Rubio's visit has been canceled amid the fact that President Lee's first visit to the U.S. and a summit schedule with U.S. President Donald Trump have not yet been confirmed.
Meanwhile, China is officially inviting President Lee to attend the Victory Day celebration on September 3, and the government is reportedly deliberating on whether to attend.
The controversy surrounding U.S.-Korea relations previously arose shortly after President Lee's inauguration, when a call with President Trump was delayed. Former Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Moon Jae-in had phone calls with the U.S. President on their inauguration days, while President Lee spoke with President Trump about two days after his inauguration on June 6.