From left is U.S. President Joe Biden, President Moon Jae-in and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong / Korea Times file

Trade-off between peace process, Samsung's US investment looming

By Kim Yoo-chul

The top priority for President Moon Jae-in's attendance at this year's G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, is how to win support from U.S. Security Council members to move forward with his idea of making a formal declaration of the end of the Korean War before the end of his term, next year, and how to narrow differences on the timing and conditions for the steps and expected consequences of such a declaration.

Moon and his foreign policy teams led by Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and intelligence chief Park Jie-won have no doubt this year's G20 Summit is Moon's last chance to break the deadlock in the stalled inter-Korean talks. Moon was hoping to hold another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before or during the scheduled 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.