The presidential office said on the 19th regarding the reinitiation of the summit between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, which was canceled during the Group of Seven (G7) summit, that they are "coordinating on how it will be conducted." They also mentioned that the attendance of the leaders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, where face-to-face meetings were discussed, remains undecided.

President Lee Jae-myung and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, are returning through Seongnam Seoul Airport in Gyeonggi Province after attending the G7 summit held in Canada early on the 19th. /Courtesy of News1

A presidential office official met with reporters that day and, in response to a question about whether a bilateral meeting between South Korea and the United States would be pursued separately amid indications that President Trump might not attend the NATO summit, said, "(President Lee) has not yet definitively decided whether he will attend NATO. We will announce it as soon as it is determined." Currently, President Lee is reviewing whether to attend NATO.

Earlier, the South Korean and U.S. leaders were scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit held on the 17th in Kananaskis, Canada. This meeting was anticipated to be a breakthrough in resolving economic and trade issues such as tariff negotiations. However, due to the military conflict between Israel and Iran, President Trump returned early, causing the meeting to be canceled. The presidential office reported that both sides are in discussions to restart the talks.

A presidential office official said the previous day at a press center in Calgary, Canada, "We will find the quickest opportunity to reconvene the South Korea-U.S. summit" and noted, "If President Lee goes to NATO, there is a possibility that the summit will be realized." This official relayed that President Lee instructed his aides to expedite the effort to reconvene the South Korea-U.S. meeting, adding that President Trump's return caused most of the G7 invitees, including Korea and Australia, to also miss their summits with the U.S.

The variable is whether President Trump will attend the NATO summit. There is a possibility that President Trump may not attend due to the insufficient "defense spending" from allied countries. Consequently, there are calls in diplomatic circles for President Lee to pursue a one-on-one meeting beyond the bilateral meetings during multilateral discussions like the G7 and NATO.