As South Korea's Leader Meets Trump, Concerns Over China Loom Large

During 2025's South Korean election campaign, Mr Lee Jae Myung said he would crawl between US President Donald Trump's legs, if necessary, to protect his country's national interests.

- Choe Sang-hun

SEOUL - But he also said: "I am not a pushover, either."

Mr Lee, who is now South Korea President, will put that balancing act to the test on Aug 25 when he and Mr Trump meet for the first time in Washington.

The two leaders have a lot in common. Both survived assassination attempts before taking office. Both share an interest in meeting with North Korea's leader, Mr Kim Jong Un.

But their priorities diverge when it comes to the seven-decade-old alliance between their countries, especially over a potential conflict between China and Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.

Tens of thousands of US troops have long been stationed in South Korea to deter North Korea, which has nuclear arms.

But the Trump administration is demanding that Seoul take greater responsibility for its own defense, as Washington expands the role of its troops based in South Korea to help contain China.

South Korea fears that this "strategic flexibility", as the United States calls it, could leave it more vulnerable to the North and increase the chances of the South getting sucked into a war over Taiwan.

Seoul and Washington should ensure that strategic flexibility "will not undermine South Korea's security" and the allies' combined abilities to deter North Korea, Mr Lee's national security adviser, Mr Wi Sung-lac, told reporters on Aug 22.