Lee-Trump summit and Seoul’s balancing act

On Monday (local time), President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump held a summit at the White House, marking the first meeting between the two leaders since Lee’s inauguration. The historic summit carried significant weight as the leaders sought to clarify details of the negotiated tariff agreement between the two countries, alliance modernization and potentially the future of America’s military presence on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump’s post on social media referencing the “purge or revolution” in Korea, along with his comments regarding a special probe raiding U.S. military bases, heightened concerns before the two leaders even met. The brief Oval Office press conference that soon followed covered anticipated agenda items: shipbuilding cooperation, North Korea engagement, United States Forces Korea, the Alaska liquefied natural gas project and Trump’s potential participation at the upcoming APEC Summit in Gyeongju. North Korea dominated discussions, with Lee advocating for Trump’s proactive diplomatic engagement as a regional “peacemaker” —Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times