Trump and Lee share experiences of surviving assassination attempts in their first call
President Lee Jae-myung (left) speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Thursday, while US President Donald Trump (right) participates in a roundtable discussion with the Fraternal Order of Police at the White House in Washington, also on Thursday. (Left: Pool photo via Yonhap; Right: Pool photo via EPA; combined by The Korea Herald)
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump agreed to meet as soon as possible — and play a round of golf — with Trump inviting Lee to visit the US, Seoul’s presidential office said.
The first phone call between Lee and Trump occurred around 10 p.m. Friday, two days after Lee was inaugurated president on Wednesday after his confirmed victory in Tuesday’s early presidential election.
The 20-minute phone conversation drew heightened attention in Seoul as the alliance faces a laundry list of pending issues on multiple fronts, from security to trade.
“The two presidents agreed to work toward reaching a tariff agreement between the US and South Korea that would be satisfactory to both countries,” said Kang Yu-jung, the presidential spokesperson, in a written statement.
To that end, Lee and Trump agreed to “encourage tangible results from the working-level negotiations.”
Seoul and Washington have been engaged in working-level negotiations ahead of the expiration of a 90-day self-imposed moratorium on Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are scheduled to take effect for each country on July 9.
The deadline set by the Trump administration for all US trading partners to submit their best offers on a trade deal expired Wednesday.
According to Lee’s office, “President Trump invited President Lee to visit the US, and President Lee responded that he hopes to meet and consult frequently with the US as part of their special alliance.”
“The two presidents agreed to meet at the earliest possible time — either on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting or on the occasion of a bilateral visit — to further discuss the development of the alliance,” the statement added.
Notably, the presidential office in Seoul disclosed that Lee and Trump “introduced their respective golfing skills and agreed to play a round for the alliance whenever possible.” Trump is well known for his passion for golf.
Trump and Lee could meet on the sidelines of two multilateral events in June. The first is the G7 Summit in Alberta, Canada, June 16–17, if South Korea is invited as an observer state and decides to attend.
The other opportunity is the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague on June 24–25, which South Korea has been invited to as one of four Indo-Pacific partners alongside Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
Lee’s office highlighted that the call between Lee and Trump was conducted with a “friendly and informal atmosphere.”
“The two presidents also shared various anecdotes and experiences from their presidential campaigns, particularly concerning the risks of assassination and the political challenges they faced,” the presidential office said. “They agreed that strong leadership comes from overcoming such difficulties.”
Lee was stabbed in the neck with a knife while visiting the construction site of a new airport in the southeastern port city of Busan in January 2024. In July last year, Trump’s right ear was grazed by a bullet while he was campaigning for the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania.
Delayed call draws political fire
The Korea Herald has learned that South Korea’s Foreign Ministry sought to arrange the first phone call between the two leaders on Lee’s inauguration day. However, the call occurred later than his predecessors.
President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol held his first phone call with then-US President Joe Biden about five hours after his election on March 10, 2022.
Similarly, President Moon Jae-in spoke with his US counterpart on the day of his inauguration, May 10, 2017, despite the absence of a traditional transition period following the early presidential election.
Then President-elect Park Geun-hye held a phone call with US President Barack Obama two days after her victory on December 19, 2012.
The protracted phone call drew criticism in Seoul, mainly from the opposition People Power Party — especially after the White House issued an unusual response to the presidential election, expressing US concern and opposition to “Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world.”
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
