White House low-key after first Lee-Trump call as experts point to China challenges

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White House low-key after first Lee-Trump call as experts point to China challenges

Published: 08 Jun. 2025, 17:13

SEO JI-EUN
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Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

President Lee Jae-myung speaks on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, on June 6. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Lee Jae-myung’s first phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump took place three days after Korea's election, slightly later than the usual practice of near-immediate post-inauguration calls.

The two leaders spoke for about 20 minutes on Friday night, according to Seoul.

They agreed to expedite tariff negotiations and expressed hopes for a swift, mutually satisfactory resolution. The presidential office added that Trump invited Lee for a summit in the United States and that they hope to meet soon.

Yet, as of late Sunday, Washington remained quiet about the call for over a day, with neither Trump nor the White House issuing any official announcement.

Observers note that the lack of a U.S. statement may reflect a wait-and-see approach by the Trump administration toward Seoul’s new leadership rather than a diplomatic slight.

President Lee Jae-myung, center on first row, poses for a commemorative photo with his Democratic Party lawmakers during a dinner at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, on June 7. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Washington keeps a low profile after Lee-Trump call

In Trump’s second term, it has become common for the U.S. side to disclose such calls informally via the president’s own social media rather than through formal White House channels.

Not every conversation is publicized, however, as Trump has tended to highlight calls that serve his agenda while keeping others low-profile.

For instance, after a call with then-acting President Han Duck-soo in April, Trump boasted on Truth Social about discussing Seoul’s increased payment for U.S. forces stationed in Korea.

However, some observers say the fact that there was no U.S. readout of Lee’s congratulatory call is not particularly surprising given precedents. Following a talk with Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on May 8, Trump made no public mention of their conversation.

During Lee's call with Trump, the two presidents agreed to expedite negotiations on tariffs and reach a “satisfactory” deal that benefits both nations, according to Seoul’s presidential office.

“The two presidents agreed to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations that both countries can be satisfied with as soon as possible,” Lee’s office said in a statement after the call.

Beyond trade issues, Lee’s office said the two leaders exchanged personal anecdotes, discussing the assassination attempts each survived as well as their shared enthusiasm for golf.

Trump also invited Lee for an in-person summit in the United States, and they plan to meet soon, the office added.

Lee was also invited to an upcoming Group of 7 (G7) summit in Canada in mid-June, where a potential first face-to-face meeting between Lee and Trump could take place on the sidelines.

Former U.S. ambassadors to Korea discuss the future of Korea-U.S. relations under President Lee Jae-myung during a KEI-hosted seminar in Washington on June 6. [KOREA ECONOMIC INSTITUTE OF AMERICA]

Former U.S. envoys emphasize China challenge

In Washington, a panel of former U.S. ambassadors to Korea convened on Friday and pinpointed Beijing as the thorniest issue facing Lee’s foreign policy.

At a seminar hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America, Philip Goldberg, who served as the U.S. envoy in Seoul until last year, said Lee faces a difficult test in balancing between the American alliance and China and that striking this balance would be a "real challenge" for the new president.

“What the Trump administration — people at the White House, people at the Pentagon and those who support President Trump — will be looking for is a more aligned policy, as was the case with [former] President Yoon [Suk Yeol], on China," Goldberg said.

"That’s going to be the difficult maneuver for President Lee — how to try to stabilize relations with China at the same time that they respond to that Trump administration desire for a more aligned policy on China," he added. "This is going to be a real challenge for President Lee — how to handle those two, in some ways, competing ideas."

He also emphasized that smoothly concluding the ongoing tariff negotiations with Washington should be an early priority to help Lee’s administration "set the environment" for its dealings with the United States.

Harry Harris, who was the U.S. ambassador in Seoul during Trump’s first term, warned that Lee will also have to contend with an increasingly assertive China not just in trade, but in protecting Korea’s maritime interests and sovereignty.

“He’ll have to deal with an aggressive China that’s posturing now in the Yellow Sea or West Sea," Harris said.

"The stuff that’s happened in the past in the South China Sea has been for Korea perhaps theoretical but now it’s become practical in the West Sea," he cautioned, pointing to reports of China's installations in international waters near a disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea, as a sign of Beijing’s expanding reach closer to Korean shores.

Kim Dae-jung diplomacy seen as model for Japan ties

Another former ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, who served in Seoul from 2008 to 2011, suggested that Lee look to former President Kim Dae-jung’s statecraft for guidance in managing relations with Japan, such as securing a formal apology from Japan and advancing bilateral ties through the Korea-Japan Joint Declaration in 1998.

“Kim Dae-jung […] might be a good model for Lee Jae-myung in some ways,” Stephens said.

"He made historic progress in improving the relationship with Japan,” she added. “He came to power at a time of crisis and tried to reach across ideological divides. When it came to foreign policy, the alliance and relations with Japan, he acted very skillfully."

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]