Lee-Trump summit sets 'positive' tone for alliance, but key security, trade issues remain
Monday's summit between Presidents Lee Jae Myung and Donald Trump set a "positive" tone for the South Korea-U.S. alliance, but areas of contention still remain, including Washington's move to readjust the role of American troops in South Korea, analysts said, Yonhap reports.
Despite Trump's morning critique of South Korea in a social media post, their first in-person summit at the White House proceeded in a cordial manner, with Lee and Trump smiling together, and using the televised segment of their talks to discuss mostly areas of common interest -- diplomacy with North Korea, shipbuilding cooperation and trilateral partnership with Japan, to name a few.
"Despite the scare from Trump's early morning Truth Social text, the Oval Office meeting between the two leaders went well. The exchange and body language were positive and amicable," Rob Rapson, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, told Yonhap News Agency via email.
He added, "As the Korean proverb goes, it was a first step well done, perhaps exceeding expectations. But many more steps to go."
On the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said there seems to be something like "a purge or revolution" in South Korea -- a statement apparently critical of the Lee administration at a time when former President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained over his botched martial law bid in December.
Trump later said, "I am sure it's a misunderstanding."
Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation chair at the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies, also positively assessed the Lee-Trump summit.
"Lee left an overall positive impression for Trump about South Korea," he told Yonhap News Agency. "Trump seemed satisfied with the trade deal last month without threatening further tariffs, and both sides can claim that their meeting helped set a positive tone for the alliance."
Analysts noted that Lee appeared to have made sufficient preparations to face Trump as seen in his applauding of Trump's leadership on various fronts, including his efforts for world peace.
"The Trump-Lee summit meeting went as well as expected. Lee seemed prepared for the meeting, effectively making the case for a strong, dynamic alliance, while praising Trump at every opportunity," Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in her commentary.
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As written before, the White House on Sunday announced a plan for President Donald Trump to have summit talks and a luncheon with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung this week, as Lee arrived in Washington on Sunday for the high-stakes meeting.
