On East Asia allies Japan, S. Korea aim to build rapport with Trump amid security concerns

TOKYO/SEOUL - Japan's and South Korea's then leaders cemented a friendship with Donald Trump during his first presidency that led to breakthroughs in the three countries' Indo-Pacific and North Korea policies.

- Walter Sim Japan Correspondent and Wendy Teo South Korea Correspondent

But that is history.

On Nov 7, the East Asian countries' current leaders separately spoke with the President-elect, recognising the need to act quickly to build rapport to reinforce their alliance with the US and, by extension, anchor Washington's interests in the region, where an assertive China and increasingly belligerent North Korea threaten stability.

Both Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had not been in power during Trump's mercurial first term in office from 2017 to 2021.

Trump's transactional approach to security, trade and foreign policy, however, remains fresh in recent bureaucratic memory and will shape Japan's and South Korea's tentative approach to Trump's second term.

While their predecessors had been successful in winning over the US President, earning them the moniker "Trump whisperer", the ability of Mr Ishiba and Mr Yoon to do so is less certain.

Trump was inspired by the late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to roll out the strategy of a free and open Indo-Pacific, while former South Korean president Moon Jae-in was a key player behind the US-North Korea summits.

This time round, a more isolationist Trump could pressure both countries to do significantly more on security if they do not offer any concessions in return for maintaining US presence in their countries, say analysts.

Mr Ishiba quickly sought to build rapport in a five-minute phone call, where he said: "I respect that your appeal to 'Make America Great Again' has resonated with so many American people."

Mr Ishiba wants to take a leaf from Mr Abe, who ripped up diplomatic protocol to visit Trump in 2016 before his inauguration, and Japanese officials are trying to schedule a meeting later in November, before the January investiture.