Overview

• Trump said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year, echoing Lee Jae Myung’s call for renewed diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula.
• Both leaders spotlighted a planned US$150 billion shipbuilding cooperation under the MASGA initiative, with Trump saying the U.S. is considering contracting ships and encouraging Korean firms to help rebuild U.S. shipyards.
• Security talks featured Washington’s push for greater ‘strategic flexibility’ for U.S. Forces Korea, which Lee said Seoul cannot easily accept, while Trump floated U.S. ownership of land hosting major bases and avoided specifying any troop reductions.
• The meeting reaffirmed the July framework that lowered reciprocal U.S. tariffs on Korean goods to 15% in exchange for about US$350 billion in South Korean investment and US$100 billion in U.S. energy purchases.
• A pre-summit social media warning from Trump about a possible ‘purge or revolution’ in South Korea was later described by him as likely a misunderstanding as the two proceeded with a 140-minute session and a business roundtable with top executives.