U.S. president Donald Trump hosted South Korean president Lee Jae Myung at Washington on Monday for their first meeting after they struck a deal last month that lowered U.S. duties on the Asian ally from 25% to 15%.

Trump said that he would announce more South Korean investments in addition to the $350 billion package agreed on last month.

Here are some main topics that you could discuss.

Defence Costs

Trump accused his Asian ally, South Korea, of "freeriding" the U.S. military power. There are 28,500 American soldiers stationed there to deter a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Seoul, in a five-year program, agreed, just before Trump won the November 2016 presidential election, to increase its contribution to 1.52 trillion won ($1.09billion) in the first year of 2026.

Washington wants allies to raise their defence spending up to 5%. South Korea, which has allocated 61,25 trillion won or 2.3% GDP this year, is still far short of the 5% target.

CHINA DETERRENCE: 'MODERNISING ALLIANCE'

Wi Sung Lac, South Korea's Presidential Security Advisor, said that "modernising" the alliance with the U.S. would include Seoul increasing its defence spending and "cementing a trade agreement reached in July".

U.S. Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary of Defense for Defense, called South Korea "a role model" because it played a larger role in deterring North Korea. He also called on modernizing the alliance.

Experts believe the summit could include discussions about the idea of changing the role of U.S. forces from one that focuses on combating North Korea, to one that also manages tensions in Taiwan Strait while deterring China.

It could be sensitive to Seoul, given that President Lee, along with declaring his full support for the U.S.-led alliance, has sought to maintain a balance in his approach to relations with Beijing.

Experts warn that giving U.S. troops multiple missions may interfere with their primary goal of defeating and deterring a North Korean invasion.

Cho Hyun, South Korean foreign minister, has denied that Seoul is in discussions with Washington about whether U.S. troops can be redeployed if there were an emergency in the Taiwan Strait.

NORTH KOREA

Wi, South Korea's top security advisor, said that the United States and South Korea are on the exact same page in terms of the strategy to try to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Since June, Lee has worked to ease tensions between Pyongyang and the United States. Meanwhile, Trump continues to boast about his historic summits he had with Kim Jong Un during his first term.

Sydney Seiler said that Lee and Trump both expressed their willingness to resume dialogue with Kim and may send a message jointly to North Korea.

North Korea, however, has rejected Lee's peace efforts. It has even dismantled loudspeaker broadcasts that cross the border.

SHIPBUILDING

Lee will also visit the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania, which was acquired by South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, and its parent company.

The official in Seoul cited the shipbuilding collaboration to assist the U.S. industrial sector as a key factor in achieving a trade agreement.

South Korea has agreed that it will invest $150 billion of the total investment package in U.S. shipbuilding and more details could be announced at the summit.

NUCLEAR POWER

Foreign Minister Cho said that South Korea may try to get Washington's approval to reprocess and enrich its own nuclear materials during the summit. He added that this was not to be used for nuclear weapons, but industrial and environmental purposes.

A bilateral agreement prohibits South Korea from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, which could be used to create nuclear weapons.

Although President Lee rejected nuclear armament in the past, the head of his intelligence agency called on Seoul this year to obtain the right to enrich Uranium to demonstrate "potential nuclear capability."

Wi stated that South Korea is in discussions with the United States about nuclear power projects.

CORPORATE INVESTMENT

South Korea says the leaders will discuss cooperation on sectors like chips, batteries, and shipbuilding as well as "economic safety" in areas like cutting-edge technology and key minerals.

Kim Yong Beom, presidential adviser, said that investments announced at the summit would include projects already announced such as Samsung Electronics new chip factory located in Texas, Hyundai Motors' car factory located in Georgia and Hanwha's expansion plan for its U.S. Shipyard.

According to data from the government, a South Korean newspaper reported that Seoul would offer an additional $150 billion in investment by 2024. This is about six times more than its U.S. direct investment. South Korea's Industry Minister said that it was not decided.

They may also discuss when the U.S. tariffs will be reduced from 25% to 15% on South Korean auto imports, as agreed in the trade agreement.

($1 = 1,399.6000 won) (Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Jihoon Lee and Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies, Helen Popper, and Helen Davies). $1 = 1,399.6000 Won (Reporting and editing by Ed Davies, Helen Popper and Ed Davies; Additional reporting and editing by Jihoon Lee, Ju-min Park and Jihoon Lee)

(source: Reuters)