SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House on Sunday asked people to warmly welcome U.S. President Donald Trump who will make a state visit to the country next week.
Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing that the government will treat President Trump as the state guest with respect and warmly welcome him in a bid to turn his visit into a decisive opportunity to make the South Korea-U.S. relations a "great alliance" beyond the current comprehensive alliance.
The briefing came ahead of Trump's two-day visit to South Korea next week. The U.S. president will hold a summit meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday, delivering a speech to the National Assembly the next day before leaving for China.
Rallies both welcoming and opposing Trump's travel to South Korea were held Saturday in central Seoul. Elderly conservative voters hailed his visit, but anti-Trump protesters claimed his bellicose rhetoric toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) escalated military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The anti-Trump protesters reportedly requested over 100 rallies to be held in Seoul during Trump's two-day stay.
The spokesman said the comprehensive South Korea-U.S. cooperation in political, economic and military areas is currently more important than ever, given the very grave security situations on the Korean Peninsula.
Park said the U.S. leader's first state-visit to South Korea in 25 years had a significant meaning under the current situations, noting that Trump's visit will eventually bring peace and prosperity to the peninsula.
He said welcoming a guest hospitably is a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation in South Korea, adding that through the hospitability, South Korea and the United States will be able to confirm the firm alliance.
The spokesman asked people to warmly welcome President Trump wholeheartedly, vowing best efforts to achieve the results that can make people's lives and safety as well as peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula leap a step forward through President Trump's state visit.
