U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Lee Jae Myung, the brand new president of South Korea, by asserting that a “Purge or Revolution” was happening there and threatening to not do business with Seoul as he prepared to host the brand new leader on the White House later Monday.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to, but South Korea had been in a state of political turmoil for the last several months after its former leader, the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, briefly imposed martial law last December which eventually led to his stunning ouster from office.
“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Looks like a Purge or Revolution. We will’t have that and do business there,” Trump posted on social media Monday morning. “I’m seeing the brand new President today on the White House. Thanks in your attention to this matter!!!”
Yoon, who was elected to a five-year term in 2022, was considered more ideologically aligned with Trump and had even taken up golfing again after the U.S. president was reelected last November to attempt to forge a bond with him.
The liberal Lee, an outspoken critic of Seoul’s conservative establishment who had narrowly lost to Yoon in that 2022 election, led the South Korean parliament’s efforts to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree while impeaching him. The nation’s Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon in April.
Before Trump’s Truth Social post Monday morning, the primary in-person meeting between Trump and Lee had been expected to assist flesh out details of a July trade deal between the 2 countries that has Seoul investing lots of of billions of dollars within the U.S. The agreement set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15% after Trump threatened rates as high as 25%.
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Trump declared on the time that South Korea could be “completely OPEN TO TRADE” with the U.S. and accept goods comparable to cars and agricultural products. Automobiles are South Korea’s top export to the U.S.
Seoul has one among the most important trade surpluses amongst Washington’s NATO and Indo-Pacific allies, and countries where the U.S. holds a trade deficit has drawn particular ire from Trump, who desires to eliminate such trade imbalances.
Lee’s office said in announcing the visit that the 2 leaders plan to debate cooperating on key manufacturing sectors comparable to semiconductors, batteries and shipbuilding. The latter has been a selected area of focus for the U.S. president.
On defense, one potential topic is the continued presence of U.S. troops in South Korea and concerns in Seoul that the U.S. will seek higher payments in return.
Ahead of his visit to Washington, Lee traveled to Tokyo for his first bilateral visit as president in a hugely symbolic trip for the 2 nations that hold longstanding historical wounds. The summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was interpreted by analysts as a solution to show unity and potential leverage as Japan and South Korea face latest challenges from the Trump administration.
Lee was the primary South Korean president to decide on Japan for the inaugural bilateral visit because the two nations normalized ties in 1965.
Elected in June, Lee was a former child laborer with an arm deformity who rose his way through South Korea’s political ranks to steer the liberal Democratic Party and win the presidency after multiple attempts.
Lee faced an assassination attempt in January 2024, when he was stabbed within the neck by a person saying he wanted Lee’s autograph and later told investigators that he intended to kill the politician.
Lee arrived within the U.S. on Sunday and can leave Tuesday. He headlined a dinner Sunday evening with roughly 200 local Korean-Americans in downtown Washington on Sunday night.
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