Moon Embarks U.S. Trip

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday embarked on a five-day visit to the U.S., where he will meet his counterpart Donald Trump.

On arrival in Washington, Moon started his itinerary with a visit to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. He laid a wreath at a memorial there commemorating the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, one of the fiercest in the 1950-53 Korean War that left 10,400 American soldiers dead or injured.

The battle delayed a southern advance by North Korean and Chinese troops, allowing the evacuation of around 90,000 Korean refugees, including Moon's own parents, from what is now Hungnam, North Korea.

Moon will then attend a business round table and dinner hosted by the Korean and American chambers of commerce.

On his second day, Moon is to meet Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives and other House and Senate officials. He and his wife Kim Jung-sook will attend a dinner hosted by the Trumps at the White House later on Thursday.

On Friday, Moon and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will lay a wreath at the Korean War Memorial in Washington and meet veterans from the war. Pence's father is also a Korean War veteran. Talks with Trump are scheduled later on Friday.

The two leaders will discuss how to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat as well as ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance. The controversial issue of delaying the additional deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in South Korea has not been included in the official summit agenda, but there is a strong chance that the subject will come up anyway.

Moon wraps up his official itinerary by having lunch with Pence. On Friday evening, he will give a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies about the South Korean government's diplomatic and security policies.

 He ends his trip on Saturday with a meeting with Korean residents in Washington.