President Donald Trump hosted South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung at the White House on Monday, where the two leaders discussed President Trump's 15% tariff rate for South Korea; potential contracts for new shipbuilding and the countries' relationship with North Korea.
The meeting began as President Trump expressed concerns about political tensions in South Korea, which underwent a brief period of martial law earlier this year before the ouster of former president Yoon Suk Yeol.
President Trump wrote on social media before Monday's meeting that the U.S. may not be able to do business in the country if what "seems like a Purge or Revolution" was underway.
“I heard bad things,” Trump said Monday morning. “I don't know if it's true or not. I'll be finding out.”
Trump's concerns appeared to relate specifically to recent raids by South Korean police on the conservative Unification Church, and to a raid on Osan Air Base, which is a joint venture between the United States and South Korea.
South Korean officials have said that raid was limited only to areas of the base under South Korean control, while it sought information about Yoon's imposition of martial law.
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During the meeting, President Trump quickly thawed to President Lee. President Trump also said he planned to meet with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, possibly as early as this year. Lee appeared to welcome the possibility, describing a potential stabilizing influence it could have on the Korean Peninsula.
"We think we can do something in that regard with respect to North and South [Korea]," President Trump said on Monday. "And I think you are much more prone to doing that than other leaders that I've been working with from South Korea. And we'll work on that. I think it's very good to work with that. And it's good to get along with Kim Jong-un. And it's good get along with everybody, including president It's good to get along. And I get along with foreign leaders."
