US President Donald Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Washington on August 25.
Let’s hope Trump doesn’t allow the prospects of US$350 billion in South Korean investment into the United States, and some more money for US forces in South Korea, to blind him to the fact that Lee doesn’t like him or the United States very much.
President Lee is a lifelong leftist with an affinity for the People’s Republic of China and North Korea, and has no great love for the United States.
He has referred to American troops in South Korea as “occupiers” and said China should do what it wants to Taiwan.
Lee apparently likes North Korea enough to put money down. He was indicted on charges of sending $8 million to North Korea while he was governor of Gyeonggi Province. His deputy has already been convicted.
He also opposed US THAAD missile defense deployment, which allowed American forces to better defend themselves and South Korea.
And Lee recently praised Vietnam for fighting against foreign powers and reunifying. Foreign powers? The Americans. And, South Korean forces were in Vietnam too.
However, since being elected Lee has talked up the US-ROK alliance and three-way US-ROK-Japan security cooperation. Thus, many American observers claim Lee is a pragmatist and a centrist, and will govern as such.
Trump no doubt understands that nice words don’t overturn a lifetime of behavior. Instead, maybe Lee and others like him mean what they say behind the soothing language intended for Western governments.
Better to look at Lee’s new Prime Minister Kim Min Seok.
Kim was a Seoul University radical student leader in the 1980s and joined the illegal occupation of the Seoul American Cultural Center in 1985. He was jailed for three years due to his anti-state and pro-North Korea activities. The Americans once refused to give him a visa, and he is said to have claimed that the Americans were behind Covid.
And consider Jung Chung Rae, the head of Lee Jae Myung’s Democratic Party of Korea. He led the 1989 occupation of the US Ambassador’s residence in Seoul and spent two years in prison. He is still a hard-core radical.
And there are a few things that ought to really resonate with Trump.
Lee’s regime is persecuting former President Yoon and his wife. Both are imprisoned and under harsh conditions. The intention, it seems, is to break – if not kill – one or both. And also intimidate the political opposition.
Lee is doing to the Yoons what a cabal of US Democrats tried to do to Trump and his family for standing up for Americans against the domination of the bi-coastal elites.
Lee’s and his party’s broader objective is one-party rule forever. Part of the strategy is to manipulate the electoral process.
South Korean citizens facing intimidation and lawsuits uncovered substantial evidence of widespread electoral irregularities in the recent June 2025 presidential election (as they did for elections in 2020, 2022, and 2024.)
The evidence has never been examined. Instead, the party, which dominates both the National Assembly and the media, declares it all “baseless conspiracy theories.”
Did anyone at the US Embassy, State Department or the White House even examine the evidence? Or meet with the citizen groups? Apparently not.
And, recently, South Korean police raided the offices of the new political party, Freedom and Innovation Party, headed by respected former Prime Minister and acting President Hwang Kyo Ahn. His offense: promoting the idea of honest elections.
Police also are reportedly investigating South Korean citizens who went to Incheon International Airport in July to welcome former US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Morse Tan – a strong proponent of South Korean election integrity.
The Trump administration fumbled things after the June 3 South Korean election. Perhaps hoping to make the best of things, the White House said the US-ROK alliance is “ironclad” – and declared the election “free and fair.”
It did express general concern over “Chinese interference” in democracies. The State Department similarly offered congratulations to President Lee.
This was a gut punch to pro-freedom South Koreans. Trump has a chance to recover if he calls out Lee when they meet next week.
However, if Trump takes the “easy” route – overlooking American principles in exchange for a trade deal and investment – don’t be surprised if the “ironclad” alliance starts to unravel.
Grant Newsham is a retired US Marine officer and former US diplomat. He is the author of the book “When China Attacks: A Warning To America. Follow him on X at @NewshamGrant