Kim Min-seok, leader of the main Democratic Party of Korea, has dropped plans for a visit to the United States in October that he had publicly pledged, party officials confirmed. Efforts to arrange meetings with members of the U.S. Congress ran into difficulty ahead of the midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.
Kim had initially planned to travel to the United States in October, before the midterm vote, but the schedule has recently become difficult to pursue, the Democratic Party said on the 14th.
In August, Kim said diplomacy with the United States, China and Japan had become "very important even at the level of party-to-party diplomacy," adding that he intended "to pursue a visit to the United States within October if possible." The aim was to strengthen party-level diplomacy spanning both U.S. parties, in addition to South Korea's existing diplomatic channels.
A senior official close to Kim said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had indicated the schedule would be difficult. "It appears the timing became tangled because it overlapped with the U.S. midterm elections," the official said.
Political observers attribute the canceled trip to the U.S. election calendar. Lawmakers in Washington have little room in their schedules ahead of the vote, and Kim also faced scheduling constraints because of domestic issues, they said. One Democratic Party official said some within the party argued that Kim should first solidify his internal base, given that he took office as party leader only recently.
Others suggest the decision reflects recent friction between Seoul and Washington. Despite the conclusion of talks on large-scale investment in the United States, unease has persisted over security cooperation and policy communication between the two allies. Kang Kyung-wha, South Korea's ambassador to the United States, told a parliamentary audit on the 12th that she did not believe the dispute over limits on intelligence sharing had been sufficiently resolved to the extent the U.S. side expects, and said high-level consultations with the White House also face limits that are "frustrating."
Kim's trip is expected to be pushed back to after the U.S. midterm elections. The timing will likely be firmed up through consultations with the U.S. side.