<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>President Donald Trump took to social media before meeting with </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/south-korea" rel="" target="" title="South Korean President Lee Jae Myung"><span>South Korean President Lee Jae Myung</span></a><span> to threaten not to do business with Seoul because of a “Purge or Revolution” that he claimed was taking place in the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But any prospect of a hostile Oval Office meeting evaporated after Lee heaped praise onto the US president — lauding the decor, beseeching Trump to continue to help with Korean peace efforts and even suggesting a Trump Tower in North Korea.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We've known each other and gotten along very well,” Trump said, before adding: “It's a great honour to be with you and congratulations on your election. That was a big one, and we're with you 100 per cent.”</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/powerful-sister-of-north-korean-leader-kim-rejects-appeasement-overture-by-souths-new-president/93b38f0d-bcc1-463c-855b-acaaa059f25d" rel="" target="" title="North Korea has 'no interest' in talks with South Korea"><strong><span>North Korea has 'no interest' in talks with South Korea</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cordial display showed how world leaders are taking notes from previous meetings between Trump and heads of state, who've largely chosen the route of praise and adulation rather than confrontation as they seek favourable trade terms and continued military aid from Washington.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was one of the first big foreign policy tests for Lee, who took over a country in a state of political turmoil since its </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/south-korea-president-yoon-suk-yeol-removed-office-impeachment-martial-law/9067cb70-4bf3-4ba5-829c-b0b606b681a5" rel="" target="" title="former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted from office after imposing martial law"><span>former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted from office after imposing martial law</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lee, elected in June, began by praising one of Trump's pet projects: presidential interior design.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/trumps-initial-warning-to-south-koreas-lee-turns-into-warm-welcome-after-flattery/aadcdb80-0772-4f85-a31f-d93e1cd2ef3f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“I heard that you recently redecorated the Oval Office, and I would like to say that it looks very bright and beautiful,” Lee said through an interpreter. “It has the dignity of America, and it symbolises the new future and prosperity of America.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He noted that the Dow Jones index has reached record highs (although Lee made sure to add the caveat that “it went down a bit”) and asked Trump, who has been on a mission to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, to reunify the two Koreas and even perhaps see the construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea accompanied by a round of golf. </span><br/><br/><span>Lee also agreed with Trump's assertion that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would not have continued to enhance his nuclear capabilities the last few years had Trump remained in office.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Noting a “renaissance” that is taking place, Lee said, “I believe you are the only leader who has made such accomplishments.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-suggests-us-may-like-a-dictator-in-threat-to-send-troops-to-chicago/6183008e-4f74-4774-b44b-f9bf0b7406c2" target="_blank"><strong><span>'A lot' of Americans would 'like a dictator', Trump says</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><strong><span>What happened in South Korea</span></strong></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The tone was a far cry from Trump's confrontational social media post earlier on Monday. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He later elaborated that he was referring to raids on churches and on a US military base by the new South Korean government, which they “probably shouldn't have done."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“I heard bad things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday morning. “I don't know if it's true or not. I'll be finding out.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump did not identify specific raids. But earlier this month, South Korean police raided a church led by a conservative activist pastor who authorities allege is connected to a riot by Yoon’s supporters at a Seoul court in January, after it issued an arrest warrant for him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A special prosecutor’s team that is investigating corruption allegations against Yoon’s arrested wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, also raided the facilities of the Unification Church over allegations that one of its officials gave her luxury goods.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by the United States and South Korea, was also the target of a raid last month by investigators looking into how Yoon’s activation of martial law transpired. South Korean investigators stressed the search was limited to areas controlled by Seoul and did not involve US military operations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked about his assertions by a reporter in front of Lee, Trump declined to confront the South Korean president and instead said the two will discuss it later.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“It didn't sound to me like South Korea,” Trump said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lee explained that the special prosecutor was tapped by the country's National Assembly to investigate the actions of Yoon, who Lee said staged a “self-coup.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At that point, Trump interjected, “Is his name Deranged Jack Smith, by any chance?” He was referring to the special prosecutor who led two criminal cases against Trump before the Republican president was reelected to a second term.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Yoon, who was elected to a five-year term in 2022, was considered more ideologically aligned with Trump and had even taken up golfing again after the U.S. president was reelected last November to try to forge a bond with him. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lee led the South Korean parliament's efforts to overturn Yoon's martial law decree while impeaching him. The nation's Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon in April.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><strong><span>The new president</span></strong></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elected in June, Lee was a former child laborer with an arm deformity who rose his way through South Korea’s political ranks to lead the liberal Democratic Party and win the presidency after multiple attempts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At a subsequent remarks in Washington on Monday night, Lee suggested that Trump's post had been “threatening” and said it had him worried he might face a “Zelenksyy moment" — similar to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was hounded out of the Oval Office by Trump and Vice President JD Vance following a contentious meeting in February.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Lee also said the South Korean-US relationship was strong enough that he was confident Trump wouldn't work to undermine it. Instead, he said the pair had “very good conversations” that went “beyond my expectations" and took longer than originally scheduled.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Everybody gave me the advice to have patience,” Lee said of his meeting with Trump.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said he also told Trump that South Korea would increase its defence spending, even as it works to ease tensions between his country and North Korea.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We will increase our defence budget, which will be used to transform the Korean military into a smart military that will prevail in future,” Lee said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lee said he and Trump also discussed modernising their countries' trade relations, which follows a July deal that has Seoul investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. That agreement set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15 per cent after Trump threatened rates as high as 25 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Seoul has one of the largest trade surpluses among Washington’s NATO and Indo-Pacific allies, and countries where the US holds a trade deficit has drawn particular ire from Trump, who wants to eliminate such trade imbalances.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also said Monday that he’d like to scrap the US lease with South Korea that covers Osan Air Base and instead get ownership of the land.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-post-united-states-usa-parcel-suspension-donald-trump-tariff/52615197-11c5-4e00-98f0-d0f576ba7159" target="_blank"><strong><span>Australia Post suspends deliveries to the US after Trump tariffs</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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