0
Woo Jong-soon (left), chairman of Asia Today, poses with South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kang Kyung-wha after their meeting at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., on October 14. / Photo by Ha Man-joo, Asia Today Washington Correspondent

Woo Jong-soon, chairman of Asia Today, visited the United States recently to discuss ways to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance amid growing uncertainty caused by trade negotiations and global instability, the newspaper said Sunday.

During his trip from October 12 to 18 to Washington, D.C., and New York, Woo met with South Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha, representatives from major American media outlets, professors and students at George Washington University, Jason Jung, former U.S. representative to the Asian Development Bank, Steve Lee, president of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation (KWVMF), former U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp, Libra Brothers CEO Iravin Lee, and Korean business leaders.

On October 16, Woo took part in an official wreath-laying ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, honoring fallen soldiers.

At a lecture commemorating his appointment as a Non-Resident Scholar at the George Washington Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) on October 14, Woo noted that “Korea-U.S. relations are facing their most complex and tense moment since President Jimmy Carter’s troop withdrawal plan in the late 1970s,” stressing that “the role of the media is more crucial than ever.”

In a meeting with Sharp and Lee on October 16, Woo said, “As threats from North Korea, China, and Russia grow in Korea and the Indo-Pacific, we must closely monitor the situation and develop countermeasures,” adding that Asia Today will “do its utmost to inform the Korean public of the importance of strengthening the alliance and friendship between the two nations that once fought together as blood brothers.”

Woo also met with former ADB envoy Jung on October 17 to discuss the ongoing dispute between Seoul and Washington over Korea’s $350 billion investment in the U.S., stressing that “both nations should seek a win-win solution during President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Seoul on October 29.”

On October 15, Woo visited Libra Brothers’ headquarters in Maryland, the largest Asian food company on the U.S. East Coast, to discuss future cooperation between Korean and U.S. businesses.

Upon arrival in the U.S., Woo held separate roundtable meetings on October 12 and 14 with Korean-American business leaders in Washington, Virginia, and Maryland, and on October 16 with executives of major Korean firms and institutions based in Washington, D.C. They discussed U.S. market conditions, partnership opportunities with Asia Today, changes in the business environment under the Trump administration’s tariff policy, and the evolving role of the media in addressing these challenges.