South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said that his meeting with President Trump exceeded expectations despite concerns about a “Zelensky moment” referring to the public blowup between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office earlier this year. Before the meeting, Trump posted a threatening post on Truth Social, and during the press gaggle, he mentioned about the Korean government’s investigations regarding the previous government and his plans to look into the search and seizure of U.S. bases.
Trump said tensions were brewing in Seoul, and Myung said he arrived in Washington prepared to negotiate tariff rates, defense collaboration for the Korean peninsula, and corporate partnerships. He noted that Trump presented conditions that were hard to accept for the opponent, but at the final stage, he did not come to an unreasonable conclusion.
The U.S. and South Korea agreed to a 15% tariff rate for exports from Seoul with $100 billion in energy investments. Trump told reporters that the nation’s leaders found some qualms with the deal, but he stuck to his guns on the terms of agreement. Myung hopes to maintain more prosperous relations with the U.S. and to expand the bilateral partnership in three main areas: security, economy, and technology.
A future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance is firmly rooted in the three pillars of security, economy, and advanced technology. The ironclad alliance, founded on pragmatism and national interest for the people, will shine brightly, and the golden era of the ROK-U.S. alliance has yet to come, not because we lack something, but because we have unlimited potential to realize.
