Anchor: U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea and expressed optimism about reaching a “good deal” in bilateral trade negotiations. Trump claimed that his government has already "done well" in trade deals with South Korea, Japan and the European Union and reached agreements that would not have been possible without the use of tariffs.
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Anchor: U.S. President Donald Trump is optimistic that he will be able to reach a trade deal with China. 

[Sound bite: U.S. President Donald Trump]
“I have a great relationship with President Xi. I expect to make a good deal with him, and I want him to make a good deal for China, but it has to be fair.”

Speaking during a luncheon at the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday, Trump said he has much to discuss with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders meet in South Korea later this month. 
 
[Sound bite: U.S. President Donald Trump]
“I'm going to see President Xi in two weeks, going over to South Korea. We are going to meet in South Korea, and we are going to talk about a lot of things. They want to discuss the fact that they are paying a 157 percent tariff. It's a little higher than they thought, and we are doing very well. We've done well with Japan and South Korea and Europe… "
 
Seoul and Washington are also working on arranging the details of a trade deal they reached in July and seek to finalize an accord by the time Trump visits South Korea at the latest.
 
At an event later in the day, Trump boasted about South Korea’s pledge to make investments worth 350 billion U.S. dollars in its ally's economy.
 
[Sound bite: U.S. President Donald Trump]
“… we took in so much money from the tariffs, from just the European Union, 650 billion, Japan 550 billion dollars, South Korea 350 billion. That's even a lot of money for you guys, right? That's not bad, right?"

The Trump administration agreed to reduce its reciprocal tariffs on South Korea from 25 to 15 percent in exchange for Seoul's investment pledge.
 
Trump has consistently claimed that Seoul already agreed to pay the 350 billion dollars “up front,” but South Korean negotiators have voiced concerns that a massive direct investment could damage the nation’s foreign exchange market.

While leaving for Washington Wednesday morning for another round of trade negotiations, the South Korean presidential office's director of national policy told reporters that the two sides are still at odds over one or two remaining issues.

Trump is scheduled to arrive in South Korea next week ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.