Takeaways from South Korean President Lee’s meeting with Trump: $150 billion in investments, power of flattery

According to the BBC, supporters of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over a failed martial law imposition attempt last year, had also been lobbying pro-Trump politicians in the United States. They were “hoping to enlist Trump’s help to save the disgraced leader.”

Here is what ultimately transpired and why South Korea would likely be satisfied with the end result.

Promised investments of $150 billion

According to Reuters, South Korea’s business lobby group said companies would invest $150 billion in areas such as artificial intelligence, chips, biotechnology, shipbuilding and nuclear power in the United States.

Additionally, South Korea and the US agreed to establish a non-binding agreement to steer $350 billion of investment funds proposed by Seoul in July under a trade deal to cut threatened US tariffs on Korean goods. The country previously faced a tariff of 25%, which was reduced to 15% in July.

South Korea is also a global leader in shipbuilding. Domestic companies Hyundai and Samsung thus signed deals to support US shipbuilding and their tech modernisation.

“The K-shipbuilding industry, equipped with the world’s strongest capabilities, will bring about a renaissance of the U.S. shipbuilding industry and create a new historic turning point for mutual prosperity,” Lee said.

Issue of US troops’ deployment, raids on church

When reporters asked the leaders about Trump’s social media comments, he no longer seemed to accord significance to them, referring to them as a possible “misunderstanding” or “rumour”.

His post did not refer to a specific issue, but Lee spoke about Korean investigators conducting a raid in July, on the Korean side of a military base operated jointly with the US, related to the Yoon investigation. The Osan Air Base is located in the Gyeonggi province.

Korean officials have clarified that “The material seized in the raid was under the supervision of only the South Korean military and had nothing to do with the U.S. military,” and that their US counterparts did not raise any issues with it.

Trump also spoke about “very vicious raids on churches” as part of the investigation. Officials said no laws were violated in the process.

‘Art of the Deal’

Several details of the deal are unknown so far, and South Korea would have also wanted more discussions on matters such as defence. But given the context of precariousness surrounding Trump’s second term, and the high tariffs imposed even on the US’s historical allies, it was believed that anything short of an argument would be a positive sign.

Lee said at an event in Washington after the summit, “Before I met with President Trump today, he posted on Truth Social a very threatening post,” he said with a laugh. “My staff was worried that we might face a Zelenskyy moment,” he said. “But I already knew that I would not face that kind of a situation. That’s because I had read President Trump’s book, ‘The Art of the Deal.’” The 1987 book, written by Trump and Tony Schwartz, talks about Trump’s approach to business and negotiation.

Lee said he had observed in negotiations with other countries that Trump would often present difficult conditions, but at the final stage would come to a reasonable conclusion.

Some flattery also helped matters. When Lee entered the Oval Office, he said it sported a “bright and beautiful” new look. On the question of peace with North Korea, something that the government is pursuing, he said, “The only person who can make progress is you Mr President”, and “If you become the peacemaker, then I will assist you by being a pacemaker.” He then joked about building a Trump Tower in North Korea and playing golf there.

“And because of the importance of the Korea-US alliance, I was confident that he would not inflict a wound to our alliance,” Lee said. “Everybody gave me the advice to have patience.”

(With Reuters, AP inputs)