With his efforts to end the war in Ukraine stalling again, President Donald Trump on Monday teased the possibility of meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un to try and bring peace to the Korean peninsula.
Trump’s expressed interest in rekindling a diplomatic dalliance that began in his first term came in response to a request from South Korea’s new president, who told Trump he was “the only person” who could end more than eight decades of tension between his country and North Korea.
Making his first visit to the White House, President Lee Jae-myung flattered his host, praising his Oval Office redesign and stewardship of the U.S. economy — and asking him to help “usher in a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula,” even floating the possibility of a Trump Tower in North Korea one day.
Lee’s highly deferential approach to Trump followed the template of other visiting leaders who have sought to put the president at ease with compliments and symbolic gestures. And it served a broader imperative for the newly-elected Korean president, who sought to shore up a critical trade relationship and longstanding partnership centered on security and defense.
Trump, in turn, said he would consider further negotiations on trade and was open to talks with Kim.
“We will do that,” Trump replied. “We look forward to meeting with him, and we'll make relations better."
Reminiscing about his 2019 visit with Kim to the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea, Trump left open the possibility that he could meet Kim this year but noted that he already has a busy fall of travel with a planned visit to the United Kingdom next month and a possible trip to China.
Lee, according to a translator in the room, asserted that the Korean Peninsula had been “stable” during Trump’s first term but lamented that North Korea expanded its nuclear arsenal after he left office in January 2021, leading Trump to chime in and blame former President Joe Biden.
“They would not have done that if I were president,” Trump said.
“I completely agree with you,” Lee replied.
Trump, in his initial comments to reporters in the Oval Office, suggested that the U.S. was considering purchasing some Korean-built ships and that he and Lee planned to discuss Korea’s purchase of additional American-made security equipment. Lee is slated to tour the Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
"We are thinking about contracting some ships. They build them very well,” Trump said. "We love what they do. We love their product. We love their ships."
Trump also indicated that he wants to renegotiate an agreement between the U.S. and South Korea that governs the status of the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed there. Trump claimed, erroneously, that there are 40,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.
At stake is an agreement negotiated between the Biden administration and South Korea late last year that takes effect in 2026. The 12th Special Measures Agreement governs how Korea subsidizes the U.S. deployment across several bases there. The deal will have Seoul pay $1.1 billion annually starting in 2026 and increasing each year with inflation. Trump has said several times — most recently in July — that South Korea should pay $10 billion per year to keep U.S. forces on the peninsula, where the U.S. has infantry troops and an air base, and agreements for American warships and nuclear-powered submarines to dock frequently.
“South Korea agreed to pay for that during my last term,” Trump said, referring to his demand.
Trump also said Monday that the U.S. shouldn’t have to lease land in South Korea, and that the government should sign the areas where U.S. forces are stationed over to Washington.
Before the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that there was a “Purge or Revolution” going on in South Korea, clarifying later to reporters that he heard there was a raid on churches in South Korea and on a U.S. military base and saying that the U.S. “won’t stand for that.”
He appeared to be referring to summer raids on more than 10 locations connected to the Unification Church, which is under investigation by a special prosecutor over allegations of financial crime and illegal political activities. The special prosecutor is also investigating former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, and his wife, activities that have been raising eyebrows among some MAGA-aligned China hawks who believe that South Korea’s new president is too close to China.
After a reporter asked about the matter in the Oval Office, Trump offered Lee a chance to explain. Lee said that the special prosecutor, who was appointed by the South Korean National Assembly, is conducting a fact-finding mission in response to allegations that Yoon staged a coup, adding that it is something he has no control over.
Unlike during his meeting with South Africa’s president, who he confronted with a video that he claimed showed the burial sites of murdered white farmers, Trump was more willing in this instance to take Lee’s word for it and let the matter go.
“I am sure it’s a misunderstanding,” Trump replied.
Trump also said that the U.S. and South Korea may renegotiate the details of a trade deal he announced in a Truth Social post at the end of July, which lowered threatened tariffs in exchange for $450 billion in South Korean investments into the U.S. As part of the deal, Trump said in July that South Korea would spend $350 billion on “Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself, as President.”
The U.S. president offered no further details on what that renegotiation process might look like, only saying that he didn’t mind doing so though “that doesn’t mean they’re going to get anything.”
Trump did, however, tout a joint venture that he said would be with both South Korea and Japan to export liquified natural gas from Alaska. As part of the July announcement, Trump had said that South Korea had agreed to invest $100 billion in U.S. natural gas.
“We’re going to get along great because we really sort of need each other,” Trump said.
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