South Korea to give Trump golden crown as trade deal remains elusive

US President Donald Trump landed in South Korea on Wednesday for the final leg of his Asia trip, optimistic about striking a trade war truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping after summit talks with South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung.

Arriving from Tokyo hours after North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, Trump is due to address a summit of CEOs and meet Lee in Gyeongju, a sleepy South Korean town filled with historic tombs and palaces.

The main item on Wednesday’s agenda will be the unresolved trade agreement between the US and South Korea, before an expected meeting with Xi on Thursday, the prospect of which has already buoyed global markets.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Gyeongju, Trump dismissed the North Korea missile test and said he was squarely focused on his meeting with the leader of the world’s second-largest economy.

After arriving in the southern city of Busan, Trump strolled down a red carpet, shaking hands with officials as the band struck up a rendition of Village People’s “YMCA”, a favourite of the US president’s often played at his political rallies. He then boarded his helicopter, heading for Gyeongju.