Overview

• President Lee proposed that Trump meet Kim this year, with his office linking the idea to a potential APEC visit to South Korea.
• Trump said he would like to see Kim this year and highlighted his past rapport with the North Korean leader.
• Trump pressed for higher South Korean payments for the 28,500 U.S. troops and floated retaining the land of a large U.S. base in the country.
• Before the talks Trump accused Seoul of a “political purge” on Truth Social, then adopted a conciliatory tone during the Oval Office session.
• After the meeting Lee warned at CSIS that North Korea is nearing an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. and could produce 10 to 20 nuclear bombs annually, as Korean Air announced an order for 103 Boeing jets and reports noted a brief North Korean border incursion.