On a December afternoon in Seoul, one year after a president's failed martial-law gambit shook the country, Lee Jae Myung told foreign reporters that his dealings with Donald Trump had been entertaining and oddly kindred, and that he hoped the American leader might still coax Kim Jong Un back to the table. The moment reflects a familiar human pattern: a smaller partner placing its hopes in a larger figure's personal style, while a divided peninsula, still technically at war, waits to see whether Pyongyang will answer anyone at all. Lee also let slip a long-withheld regret about drone leaflets
Lee Jae Myung Praises Trump, Hopes Washington Can Revive Talks With North Korea
"I feel I should apologise, but I hesitate to say it out loud."
Mark
Lee praised Trump quite warmly. Why does that matter beyond courtesy?
Mimi
Because Seoul's relationship with Washington is its central security tie. In six months Lee has had two summits with Trump and closed a trade deal with a US$350 billion investment package. The praise sits alongside real business.
Mark
And the North Korea angle?
Mimi
Lee said Pyongyang seems to take Washington more seriously than Seoul. That is an admission that his own outreach has not landed, and that he is leaning on Trump to do what he cannot.
Luke
Worth noting that is Lee's reading of North Korea's thinking. The report gives no statement from Pyongyang confirming it.
Mark
Was there a real chance of a Trump-Kim meeting?
Mimi
Lee said Trump wanted one during APEC in South Korea and it did not work out. He gave no details on why.
Luke
Right, and that is Lee's account of Trump's wishes. Nothing here shows what Kim was asked or how he answered.
Mark
Then there is the apology over the drones.
Mimi
He said he feels one is due but hesitates, fearing it would be used in ideological fights or to call him pro-North.
Luke
And the underlying allegation is still unconfirmed. North Korea says it proved the flights, and Seoul's military has not confirmed them. Lee's remark speaks to his own view, not to a verified fact.
Mark
So what is actually settled?
Luke
That Lee said these things, and that North Korea has rebuffed his overtures. Whether Washington can reopen talks is unknown.
El Pulso
- Lee calls his talks with Trump 'interesting and entertaining' and praises him as a realist and master dealmaker, signalling a bid to keep the alliance warm.
- A planned Trump-Kim meeting at the recent APEC gathering in Seoul never materialised, leaving the diplomatic channel cold.
- North Korea has rebuffed Lee's conciliatory gestures, and the Peninsula remains technically at war with no clear path to dialogue.
- Lee hopes Washington can entice Kim back to talks, betting Pyongyang takes the United States more seriously than Seoul.
- Lee admits an apology to the North over the alleged Yoon-era drone leaflet operation may be due, but hesitates for fear of ideological attacks.
- The outcome hinges on whether Washington can open a channel to Pyongyang and whether Lee follows through on that apology.
On a December afternoon in Seoul, one year after a president's failed martial-law gambit shook the country, Lee Jae Myung told foreign reporters that his dealings with Donald Trump had been entertaining and oddly kindred, and that he hoped the American leader might still coax Kim Jong Un back to the table. The moment reflects a familiar human pattern: a smaller partner placing its hopes in a larger figure's personal style, while a divided peninsula, still technically at war, waits to see whether Pyongyang will answer anyone at all. Lee also let slip a long-withheld regret about drone leaflets sent north during the Yoon years, though he worried that naming it aloud could become ammunition for rivals.
On Wednesday, December 3, President Lee Jae Myung faced foreign reporters in Seoul on the first anniversary of Yoon Suk Yeol's martial-law declaration, which had briefly plunged the country into chaos. Asked about his dealings with Donald Trump, Lee described them as "interesting and entertaining" and said he perhaps felt a sense of kinship with the American president.
Since taking office in June, Lee has met Trump twice, finalised a trade deal with a US$350 billion investment package, and openly courted him. He praised Trump as a peacemaker on North Korea and presented him with a replica of a gold crown. Lee called Trump a realist, pragmatist and master of dealmaking, a reading that reflects his strategy of managing a high-stakes alliance through personal warmth.
His deeper hope concerns Pyongyang. Lee believes North Korea takes Washington more seriously than Seoul when it comes to its regime's survival, so he wants Trump to draw Kim Jong Un back to dialogue. A Trump-Kim meeting had been possible at the APEC gathering Seoul hosted a month earlier, but it did not happen. "Circumstances are always changing," Lee said, "so we will do our best to create environments that allow for communication."
Lee also raised the Yoon-era drone episode, in which drones and propaganda leaflets were allegedly sent across the border. He said he felt an apology to the North was due, but feared it would be seized upon in ideological battles and accusations of being pro-North. The question of whether that apology will ever be spoken aloud remains open.
On Wednesday, December 3, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung stood before foreign reporters in Seoul and described his conversations with Donald Trump as "interesting and entertaining." He added that he perhaps felt "a sense of kinship" with the American president. The press conference marked one year since his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, plunged the country briefly into chaos by declaring martial law.
Lee took office in June. Since then he has held two summits with Trump and finalised a trade deal that includes a US$350 billion US investment package, after months of negotiations. Along the way he has courted the American leader openly. He praised Trump's role as a "peacemaker" on North Korea, and during a Trump visit to South Korea he presented him with a replica of a gold crown.
At the press conference, Lee described Trump as "a realist, pragmatist, and master of dealmaking who respects his counterparts." The remark fits the approach Lee has taken toward Seoul's main ally, which is to manage a high-stakes relationship through personal warmth.
The larger hope Lee voiced concerned North Korea. He said he remained hopeful that Trump could entice Kim Jong Un back to dialogue. His reasoning was that Pyongyang appears to take Washington more seriously than it takes Seoul when it comes to sustaining its regime. The two Koreas remain technically at war, and North Korea has rebuffed conciliatory gestures since Lee pledged to re-engage with it and defuse tensions on the peninsula.
Lee said a meeting between Trump and Kim had been possible not long ago. During the APEC gathering that South Korea hosted a month earlier, he said, Trump wanted and hoped to meet Kim, but it did not work out. "But circumstances are always changing, so we will do our best to create environments that allow for communication," he said. Trump and Kim held summits in 2018 and 2019 before negotiations broke down over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons arsenal.
Lee also addressed an episode from the Yoon years. Yoon is alleged to have ordered drones to be sent across the border, along with propaganda leaflets. Lee said he felt an apology to North Korea was due, but that he hesitated to say it aloud. "I worry that if I do, it could be used as fodder for ideological battles or accusations of being pro-North (Korea)," he said.
North Korea said last year that it had "proved" the South flew drones to drop propaganda leaflets over its capital. Seoul's military has not confirmed that. South Korea's parliament passed a law in 2020 criminalising the sending of leaflets to the North.
Two things are worth watching. One is whether Washington can open a channel to Pyongyang where Seoul has so far been rebuffed. The other is whether Lee ever says publicly the apology he told reporters he is weighing.
Citas Notables
I found my conversations with President Trump quite interesting and entertaining. Perhaps I felt a sense of kinship.— Lee Jae Myung, South Korean president
I worry that if I do, it could be used as fodder for ideological battles or accusations of being pro-North.— Lee Jae Myung, on apologising to North Korea
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