S. Korean president turns on the charm for Trump

A ‘Zelensky moment’ averted, leader must deal with unresolved issues involving U.S.

- By Max Kim

SOLDIERS take part in a joint bridging drill near the southern Han River this week in Yeoju, South Korea.

The first summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and President Trump was a picture of easy chumminess.

On Monday, the two leaders bonded over the fact that they both have survived assassination attempts, and they talked golf. When Trump admired the handcrafted wooden fountain pen Lee used to sign the White House guest book, saying “it’s a nice pen, you want to take it with you?” Lee offered it as an impromptu gift. At a Q&A in front of reporters, Lee thanked Trump for bringing peace to the Korean peninsula through his previous summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and urged him to meet with Kim again.

“Ifyou become the peacemaker, then I will assist you by being a pacemaker,” Lee told Trump, drawing a chuckle.

These scenes, along with the two-hour closed-door meeting between the two leaders that followed, seemed to put to rest fears that Lee — a former governor and legislator with little prior experience on the international stage — might be subject to a “Zelensky moment”: cornered and berated by a counterpart who has long complained that Seoul takes Washington for granted.

It was an outcome for which South Korea painstakingly prepared.

As a presidential candidate earlier this year, Lee had vowed he would bring home a diplomatic win at all costs, even if it meant he had to “crawl between Trump's legs.” To smooth along trade negotiations with the U.S. in late July, South Korean officials brought with them red caps emblazoned with the slogan: “MAKE AMERICA SHIPBUILDING GREAT AGAIN.” And ahead of Monday’s summit, Lee compared notes with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whom he met last week, and brushed up on his assignment by reading “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”