Marvin Park, Senior Vice President
Today, President Trump and Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee, Jae Myung held a bilateral meeting for the first time since President Lee’s snap presidential election victory on June 3, 2025. The meeting covered the ongoing U.S.-ROK trade deal, investments into the U.S. manufacturing and shipbuilding industries, purchase of American energy, digital trade barriers, defense alliance modernization, progress toward restoring dialogue with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and emphasized the value of trilateral (U.S.-Japan-Korea) cooperation. The meeting between Trump and Lee started off and maintained a positive tone despite the heavy anxiety in Korean press about the potential pitfalls of their first meeting.
At the opening press event, President Lee emphasized President Trump’s role as a global peacemaker. Lee underscored his belief that Trump’s personal relationship with Kim, Jong Un would be key to re-establishing dialogue between the two Koreas and bringing back stability to the Korean peninsula, as it did during the first Trump administration. In addition, President Lee’s stop through Japan to see Prime Minister Ishiba prior to his Washington trip was described as preparing the way for deeper trilateral cooperation to face regional challenges like North Korea. It appears that Lee has chosen to publicly reaffirm the value of trilateral cooperation with Trump despite Lee’s longtime critique of Japan’s history. Lee did not respond to Trump’s suggestion that Lee talk about the issue of comfort women.
One potential issue that seemingly caught many off guard, even before the meeting began, was Trump’s Truth Social post asking “what was happening” in South Korea and offering that it seemed like a purge or revolution. In the press event immediately preceding the Lee meeting, Trump clarified that he was referring to the South Korean government raiding churches and even going into a U.S. military base to conduct investigations. In the Oval Office, President Lee responded that those coordinated raids were being conducted by a special prosecutor investigating the Unification Church and allegations of political influence involving the church and top ROK government figures, potentially even the former first lady, Kim, Keon Hee. President Trump made light of the comments by asking if the prosecutor was Jack Smith. This instance shows how quickly foreign domestic issues can affect the bilateral relationship and how such issues could potentially derail even the most carefully planned meetings.
On trade, President Donald Trump refused to change the terms of South Korea’s tariff agreement, despite a lobbying effort from President Lee Jae Myung during their first in-person meeting. President Trump was quoted as saying, in reference to the South Korean investment pledge, “They’re going to make the deal that they agreed to make.” There also was clear messaging that without South Korean clarification and movement on the $350 billion investment pledge, the president is unlikely to lower the auto tariff until then. Commerce Secretary Lutnick, who is the lead on the investment pledge and auto tariff matters, will be the cabinet official briefing the president on investment progress and timing of the reduction of the auto tariff from 27.5% to 15%.
Lee has reportedly offered up to $150 billion to support U.S. shipbuilding, to be financed by Seoul, which Trump welcomed. Trump also expressed strong support for the ROK purchasing over $100 billion in energy, primarily from Alaska, to meet South Korea’s energy needs.
AGS will continue to monitor developments and provide relevant updates as needed.
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