Lee Jae-myung's Trump Meeting: South Korea Avoids a 'Zelenskyy Moment'

Lee Jae-myung's Trump Meeting: Avoiding a 'Zelenskyy Moment'

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung narrowly avoided what he termed a “Zelenskyy moment” with former US President Donald Trump. Trump telegraphed right-wing conspiracy theories on social media before welcoming Lee to Washington, but ultimately the two leaders completed a high-stakes summit without the feared outbreak of conflict.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders. Officials and analysts largely agree that, despite the rocky start, the overall outcome aligned with South Korean expectations.

Most importantly, South Korea dodged its biggest fear: a repeat of the public dressing-down Trump delivered to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February. In May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also experienced a diplomatic “ambush” at the White House, with Trump abruptly accusing South Africa of “white genocide” and turning off the lights to play a video.

Hours before their Monday meeting at the White House, Trump posted on social media, “What the hell is going on in South Korea? Looks like a cleansing or revolution,” stating that he would raise the issue with Lee Jae-myung during their meeting.

Trump had previously stated that he was following investigations in South Korea targeting churches and military bases. Trump claimed he heard that South Korean police had conducted “very nasty raids” on churches and searched US military bases. He suggested these actions may be linked to churches that support former President Yoon Suk-yeol.

After Lee Jae-myung clarified that the investigators' searches were limited to South Korean-controlled portions of the joint US-Korea base and were related to the country's domestic political crisis, Trump softened his tone, describing his earlier remarks as a “misunderstanding” and “rumors.” Lee Jae-myung's office said he did not raise the issue again in private talks.

“Before I met with President Trump today, he posted a very threatening post on Truth Social,” Lee Jae-myung said with a smile while attending an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies after the summit.

“My team was very worried that we would encounter a ‘Zelenskyy moment’,” Lee Jae-myung said.

“But I have known for a long time that this would not happen, because I read Trump’s ‘The Art of the Deal’,” he added.

Lee Jae-myung stated that he observed that Trump, when negotiating with other countries, often puts forward harsh conditions first, but ultimately arrives at a reasonable conclusion. “Because of the importance of the US-Korea alliance, I am confident that he will not harm the alliance,” Lee Jae-myung said. “Everyone advised me to be patient.”

The subsequent conversation in the Oval Office focused on flattery and warm words, with Trump also talking about his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“Lee Jae-myung's appearance in the Oval Office went much smoother than expected,” commented Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, noting that Trump not only expressed support for Lee Jae-myung’s handling of the North Korea issue but also demonstrated a positive attitude towards engaging with Kim Jong-un.

Xinhua News Agency reported that Trump said his relationship with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un was “very good” and that he hoped to meet with Kim Jong-un this year. “He and I get along well. I think his country has tremendous potential and a bright future.”

“There were no dramatic scenes at this summit,” said Cheong Seong-chang, vice president of the Sejong Institute in Seoul. However, Cheong Seong-chang also pointed out that the ambiguity meant that South Korean policy goals were not resolved, including seeking US approval for nuclear fuel reprocessing and amending relevant US shipbuilding laws.

Yang Uk of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul pointed out that Trump's pressure on South Korea indicates that he understands how much he can gain from South Korea. “(Trump’s) basic formula is to intimidate the other party as much as possible first, and then get what he wants, and that’s what happened this time as well.”

“Trump did not embarrass Lee Jae-myung,” said Jun Kwang-woo, chairman of the Global Economic Institute.

“Trump may not now have enough energy to create tensions with Lee Jae-myung at a time when he is already constantly in conflict with other countries.”

However, there are still important issues unresolved between the US and South Korea, including how much of the costs South Korea will bear for the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, and there are still many details that have not been written into the tariff agreement that was reached in haste. Trump mentioned at the meeting that he hoped that South Korea would transfer ownership of some of the “large military bases” of the US forces stationed in South Korea to the US side in order to get rid of the issue of “rent”.

In addition, regarding trade and economics, Trump said that he did not mind renegotiating the trade agreement reached in July if the Korean side wanted to, but this did not mean that the Korean side would get more. Lee Jae-myung said that South Korea is willing to participate in the manufacturing revival promoted by the United States, especially the shipbuilding industry.

Just hours after the meeting, Korean Air announced that it would purchase 103 Boeing aircraft with a total value of approximately US$50 billion, the largest deal in Korean aviation history.