US President Donald Trump criticized South Korea just hours before a Monday summit with its new President, Lee Jae Myung, as conflicts over defense spending and trade test the two countries’ decades-old alliance.
The leaders were preparing for their first summit when Trump stated on social media, without providing evidence, that there “Seems like a Purge or Revolution” in South Korea and that “We can’t have that and do business there.”
These remarks cast a shadow over what are high-stakes talks for Lee. He assumed office in June following a snap election called after his conservative predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, was removed for his December attempt to impose martial law.
South Korea’s economy heavily relies on the US, with Washington underwriting its security through troops and nuclear deterrence. Lee aims to chart a balanced path of cooperation with the U.S., while avoiding antagonizing South Korea’s top trade partner, China.
Trump did not specify the reasons for his complaint. However, they seemed to align with those lodged by Korea’s far-right movement, especially evangelical Christians and supporters of Yoon, who is on trial for charges of inciting an insurrection.
These Yoon supporters view the ex-president as a victim of communist persecution and have made unsubstantiated claims of election tampering in the vote that brought Lee to power in June.
South Korea’s presidential office informed local media that they were looking into the matter. The White House did not immediately respond to emailed questions about Trump’s post.
South Korea has long faced targeted criticism from Trump, who has called it a “money machine” that takes advantage of American military protection.
“Regardless of how this specific incident plays out, Trump has nicely illustrated how unreliable and capricious he is for allies,” said Mason Richey, professor at Seoul’s Hankuk University.
Complex negotiations are underway as the two countries engage in lower-level talks over trade, nuclear power, and military spending. Several top officials, including the foreign minister, rushed to Washington over the weekend to iron out final details.
According to a White House official, Trump planned to discuss “North Korea, defense posture, trade barriers, maritime security, American shipbuilding, energy dominance, and more.”
Lee’s goal for the meeting has been to sidestep some of the thorniest issues, make a good impression, connect personally with Trump, and above all, avoid any unpleasant surprises, analysts said.
As part of his summit preparations, Lee told reporters during his flight to Washington that he had read “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” the president’s 1987 memoir. Under heavy pressure from Trump’s administration, South Korean negotiators secured a last-minute deal last month to avoid the harshest of new US tariffs, but they must still finalize details of billions of dollars in promised investments in the United States.
“There are many major topics in the security field,” Lee’s top policy aide, Kim Yong-beom, said last week. “Our position is that trade was already finalized last time. We hope that specific implementation plans for trade won’t be included in the summit at all, or at least should be kept simple if discussed.”
Lee, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, will highlight some of South Korea’s expected investments when he visits a shipyard in Philadelphia owned by the country’s Hanwha Group after the summit. Cooperation to help the ailing U.S. shipbuilding sector is part of the broad tariff agreement reached between the countries.
Trump is expected to pressure Lee to commit to more defense spending, potentially including billions of dollars more towards the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea.
Wi Sung-lac, Lee’s top security adviser, said South Korea was in talks with Washington over defense spending, using NATO’s agreement on a big new defense spending target as a reference. Wi added that the government was also considering a plan for the purchase of American weapons.
While focusing on increasing military spending, Lee will likely seek to avoid discussions about a potential reduction of US troops or using them for a wider range of operations, or details on modernizing the alliance, said Duyeon Kim from the Center for a New American Security.
Lee told reporters it would be difficult for Seoul to accept the US demand to adopt “flexibility” in operating the US military stationed in South Korea. The phrase means allowing US troops in the country to address regional security issues, such as China, in addition to North Korea.
“They should leave those topics for working-level officials to hash out,” Kim said. “Ambition could backfire.” As he headed to the US, Lee sent a special delegation to Beijing, which delivered a message calling for normalized relations with China, which have been strained in recent years.
Trump and Lee may also discuss efforts to persuade North Korea to freeze and eventually abandon its nuclear weapons program. Both leaders support engaging Pyongyang, and Lee has called for a phased approach to denuclearization. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says South Korea and the US remain hostile to his country, and he will never give up his nuclear arsenal. Over the weekend, Kim supervised the test firing of new air defense systems. Before meeting Trump, the South Korean leader traveled to Tokyo to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday to build on cooperation between South Korea, Japan, and the U.S.
A commentary carried by North Korea’s state media on Monday criticized Lee’s “despicable” trip to Tokyo as a “begging message towards the master of the White House” by highlighting trilateral military cooperation.
