President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump touched on the issue of revising the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement during their telephone call on Monday.
 
The two leaders agreed to have in-depth discussions at negotiations that will launch sooner or later. 
 
Trump reiterated his intent to renegotiate the Seoul-Washington trade deal. The U.S. president first noted that his country is spending an enormous amount of defense budget for its alliance with South Korea, which he called a great ally and partner of the U.S. He then said that revising the trade agreement is necessary to reduce the U.S.’ huge trade deficit with South Korea and develop fair relations between the two countries.
 
According to Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun, Moon said the trade agreement is benefiting both countries and proposed joint efforts to develop the FTA in a more mutually beneficial way. The South Korean president also expressed expectations that bilateral talks will go smoothly with the recent appointment of a new South Korean trade minister.
 
Regarding Trump’s remarks on defense budgets, Moon said South Korea plans to increase its defense spending. Moon also said South Korea will spend a considerable portion of the defense budget to purchase cutting-edge weapons from the U.S., which he said will help decrease their trade imbalance.