President Moon made his international debut at the summit with President Trump in Washington and at meetings with the G20 leaders in Germany. His debut was generally considered successful. On the surface, the first meeting between Moon and Trump appeared to be a meaningful one, reaffirming the solidarity of the alliance between South Korea and the United States. However, it also demonstrated the cold reality that economic and security issues cannot be separated from each other, and that in order to strengthen their security alliance, South Korea should shoulder greater economic cost by, for instance, allowing the renegotiation of the KORUS FTA under Trump’s terms. The meeting between Moon and President Xi also drew substantial attention during the G20 summit. However, to South Korea’s disappointment, China emphasized its “close relationship” with North Korea, making clear that it has no intention to impose additional sanctions against the North. In addition, China demanded that South Korea understand China's legitimate concerns over THAAD and withdraw its deployment in order to restore South Korea-China relations.

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