DeSantis Talks Trade, Nukes And North Korea In Seoul As 2024 Presidential Run Beckons

Topline

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday met South Korean officials in Seoul to discuss trade, nuclear weapons and strengthening ties with the U.S. on the second stage of a foreign trip widely viewed as an effort to bolster his diplomatic credentials ahead of an expected presidential run.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is on an international trade mission.

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

DeSantis, who is leading a four-country trade mission from Florida, met South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and promised deeper levels of government support to boost Korean investment in the state and create more jobs, according to Han’s office.

Han, South Korea’s leading politician after President Yoon Suk Yeol, requested particular support for space and aviation sectors, industries he said are particular strengths for Florida.

In addition to discussing trade and the historic ties between Seoul and Washington, Han’s office said the pair also spoke about an unspecified set of regional and global issues and North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons.

As part of the trip, DeSantis also met with the governor of South Korea’s Gyeonggi province, Kim Dong-yeon, where a number of high-profile South Korean companies including Samsung Electronics and social media firm NAVER are based.

They reportedly discussed expanding partnerships in industries like biotechnology and solar power generation.

News Peg

Seoul is the second stop on DeSantis’ international trade tour and follows a trip to Japan. In Tokyo, DeSantis met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and praised the country’s strong alliance with the U.S., particularly in the wake of threats from China and North Korea. The tour, though billed as a trade mission from Florida, is widely perceived as a bid to buttress DeSantis’ foreign policy and security credentials ahead of a potential presidential bid. While DeSantis has yet to officially announce his intentions to run for the White House in 2024, he is expected to do so in the coming months and is considered to be the biggest challenger to former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

Chief Critic

Trump, who is leading an increasingly crowded field of contenders seeking the Republican nomination, mocked DeSantis’ foreign trip on social media as a desperate bid to “up his game,” boost “bad poll numbers” and “remove the stain from his failing campaign.”

What To Watch For

DeSantis and Florida’s trade delegation are expected to visit Israel and the U.K. for the remainder of the tour. DeSantis’ office said the governor will deliver the keynote address at an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of Israel, as well as meet government leaders and Israeli companies. In the U.K., DeSantis is expected to meet with business executives and government leaders like foreign minister James Cleverly.

Big Number

$1.3 billion. That’s the value of merchandise trade between Florida and South Korea, according to DeSantis’ office. The figure—which covers around $951 million in goods imports to Florida in 2022—makes South Korea the state’s seventh largest bilateral trade partner in the Asia and Middle East region.