South Korea's aggressive approach and other takeaways from Trump's meeting

Hours before South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with U.S. President Donald Trump, a truth-telling social media post was passed down.

“What’s going on in South Korea?” Trump wrote, referring to “purge or revolution” — seen by many as a reference to the impeachment of former President Yun Suk-yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law last December.

But Lee stayed focused and did not repeat what happened to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky or South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.

But the meeting was dominated by Trump’s persistent references to North Korea, and despite Lee’s teasing, little in the way of easing trade and defense ties was forthcoming. Here are three key takeaways.

Lee’s team is nervous about the meeting, and for good reason: Trump has historically been wary of South Korea, despite the U.S. ally’s concerns. In the past, he has accused him of freeloading the tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed on the peninsula to help defend against North Korea. He has also criticized Seoul’s defense spending and its trade surplus with the United States.

Lee, a left-wing politician, has a reputation in Washington for playing the worst role that Trump fears. He has been skeptical of the U.S. alliance and said he wants to build a stronger relationship with China. He has also been called “anti-American” by some US conservative commentators.

The actual social post, hours before the meeting, would scare them off. Trump’s ominous-sounding message seemed to point to the aftermath of South Korea’s martial law crisis last December and the efforts of Mr. Trump’s government and prosecutors to try to stop him from doing so.

This is something that the far right in South Korea, and even some in the United States, have opposed.

It was a nightmare scenario for South Korean officials — that Mr. Lee might be forced to defend himself against right-wing conspiracy theories. But when the meeting arrived, Mr. Trump raised the issue, only to quickly brush it off as a possible misunderstanding.

But Mr. Lee’s mocking strategy clearly worked. He first marveled at the “bright and beautiful” new look of the Oval Office, then praised the personal rapport the U.S. president has built with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“The only person who can improve is you, Mr. President,” Mr. Lee said. “If you will be a peacemaker, I will help you by being a peacemaker.”

Lee also joked about the construction of Trump Tower in North Korea and playing golf there.

If it sounds a little off-putting, it’s South Korea’s strategy for high-level meetings, aimed at trade, the role of U.S. troops in South Korea and how much Seoul spends on its defense.

Lee’s team’s number one goal is to make sure they leave the Oval Office on Trump’s good side.

Later, when asked by a reporter about his earlier comments about South Korean officials raiding churches, Trump said he had heard about it from “intel” but “it doesn’t look like South Korea to me.”

Trump said the “rumors” were likely “misconceptions.” While Lee said authorities were investigating the claim, Trump said he was confident they were “working on it.”