During the South Korean election campaign this year, Lee Jae Myung said he would crawl between President Trump’s legs, if necessary, to protect his country’s national interests. But he also said, “I am not a pushover, either.”
Mr. Lee, who is now South Korea’s president, will put that balancing act to the test on Monday 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, Kim Jong-un. But their priorities diverge when it comes to the seven-decade-old alliance between their two countries — especially over a potential conflict between China and Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.
Tens of thousands of U.S. 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, Wi Sung-lac, told reporters on Friday.
The allies have found some common ground over that principle, Mr. Wi said. But officials were also wary of Mr. Trump’s unpredictability.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post As South Korea’s Leader Meets With Trump, China Looms Large appeared first on New York Times.
