Lee Jae-myung was sworn in as the new South Korean president on the morning of June 4. At that time, the South Korean media predicted that Lee Jae-myung would call Washington as early as the same day. After all, this is a convention in South Korean politics: Moon Jae-in made a call to the White House on his inauguration day in 2017, and Yoon Suk-yeol called Biden five hours after delivering his victory speech in 2022.

However, Lee Jae-myung is not one to follow conventions. In the two days before taking office, there was no movement from his side. It wasn't until around 10 p.m. on June 6 that he finally spoke with Trump. By then, he should have finished his other work for the day. This conversation lasted only about 20 minutes, covering two main points:

Firstly, Lee Jae-myung brought up an issue he knows Trump wouldn't want to hear: he expressed hope for a quick trade agreement between South Korea and the United States and looked forward to tangible results from the negotiations.

This statement would not be something Trump would like to hear. Although Trump had to say that he welcomed talks on trade issues, it must be noted that if Lee Jae-myung hadn't taken office, the tariff issue between the U.S. and South Korea wouldn't need much discussion. Before Lee Jae-myung's inauguration, South Korean politicians (including the acting president) were very weak in dealing with Trump's tariff policies, which formed a sharp contrast with Japan's strong stance under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

However, now that Lee Jae-myung is in office, and on his first day, he criticized Trump's tariff policy in his inaugural address, calling it disruptive to global trade. This means that Trump will face another opponent on the tariff issue. Isn't it interesting that these two of America's most steadfast allies, Japan and South Korea, are now both serious about negotiating with the U.S.? Indeed, quite rare.

Secondly, during the 20-minute conversation, Lee Jae-myung avoided mentioning China entirely, and Trump was equally tactful, not mentioning it either.

The ROK-U.S. alliance has existed for so many years, and the U.S. has invested so much in South Korea, with the aim of two things: 1. Using South Korea to contain China; 2. Using South Korea to deal with North Korea. Therefore, beforehand, the media were most concerned about how they would comment on China during their talk. But who knew that Lee Jae-myung didn't mention China at all.

Then why did Trump also refrain from mentioning China this time? The reason is simple: because China and the U.S. had just spoken over the phone, and the second round of negotiations between the two countries would take place soon. According to Trump's latest announcement, the second round of talks between the delegations of China and the U.S. will be held in London on June 9.

This negotiation is very important for the Trump administration, as the rare earth issue may become a key point in the negotiation. At such a time, Trump certainly dared not ask directly for Lee Jae-myung to make things difficult for China. Of course, given Lee Jae-myung's pragmatic attitude now, even if Trump mentioned it, he might not listen.

After Lee Jae-myung took office, China immediately congratulated him. Later, he appointed Kim Min-sik, who studied at Tsinghua University, as prime minister, and the South Korean media believe this sends a highly positive signal to China.

At present, Lee Jae-myung faces multiple pressures. A detail is that when he just moved into the presidential office, he found that there wasn't even a computer in the office, making it completely empty. This is of course not because South Korea is poor; South Korean analysts believe that this is a gesture from certain political forces to show this president who comes from humble beginnings that from now on, everything will depend on himself.

Next, Lee Jae-myung must quickly lead the South Korean economy out of the quagmire. In early June, more than 40 financial institutions worldwide released their forecasts for South Korea's GDP for the whole year of 2025, setting the average at around 0.9%, far below expectations. Lee Jae-myung knows that to handle these problems, he must rely on the Chinese market and maintain good relations with China. This decision is not based on personal preference but determined by the Sino-Korean trade relationship. For more details, let's continue to follow up.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7513020994588754441/

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