▲ U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listens as President Donald Trump speaks at a charter school in Florida, in this AP file photo from May 1, 2026. (Yonhap)

Bessent-S Korea visit

Bessent says will visit Seoul ahead of Trump-Xi summit

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to visit South Korea before heading to China for a U.S.-China summit, his social media post showed Monday.

"I will depart on Monday for a quick series of meetings in both Japan and South Korea. ... On Wednesday, I will stop in Seoul for a discussion with Vice Premier He Lifeng of China, before continuing on to Beijing for the Leaders' Summit between President Trump and President Xi," he said on X, formerly Twitter.

Diplomatic sources here earlier confirmed his planned single-day trip to Seoul.

Bessent did not clarify whether he plans to meet with He in Seoul or why such a meeting would take place here. He also did not provide further details on which Seoul officials he plans to meet.

While in Seoul, the U.S. secretary is widely expected to meet with Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and other senior South Korean officials to discuss the foreign exchange market, as well as a range of economic and financial issues of mutual interest.

"Economic security is national security, and I look forward to a productive series of engagements as we work to advance President Trump's America First Economic Agenda," Bessent said in his post.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold bilateral talks in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.

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