Credit – Photograph by Hong Jang Hyun for TIME
In the wake of the very public grilling of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, a trip to the White House holds new trepidation for world leaders. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s tactic was gifts and flattery during his Aug. 25 meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, who was presented with MAGA hats, a model boat, and a customized golf putter engraved with his name. Still, Lee thought better of seeking 18 holes with his host.
“I know that President Trump is a great golfer, so if I play a round of golf with him, I might lose even more!” Lee, 61, told TIME on Sept. 3.
Yet there was an awkward moment in the Oval Office when Trump suggested that in addition to the swag proffered that Lee should give ownership of South Korean land hosting American military bases to the U.S. “I believe he was joking,” says Lee. “Because the U.S. is already using the bases and land without any cost. And actually, if the U.S. owns the land, it must pay property taxes. We cannot give exemptions for that!”
Lee’s deft courting of the U.S. President is one of several takeaways from TIME’s exclusive interview at his Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul for a new cover story. Lee took power in South Korea on June 4 following snap elections called in response to the impeachment of his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, whose December declaration of martial law plunged the East Asian nation of 50 million into political crisis.
Here are five takeaways from Lee’s wide-ranging conversation with TIME.
President Lee at work in his office on Sept. 3, 2025.Photograph by Hong Jang Hyun for TIME
1. Gone are the days of ‘U.S. for security; China for economy’
Lee’s Democratic Party has historically been standoffish towards the U.S., hostile towards former colonizer Japan, and favored links with Beijing. However, Lee made Tokyo his first foreign visit en route to Washington and says the current geopolitical environment has shifted so drastically that “we cannot go back to the traditional equation of relying for security on the U.S. and economically on China.”
Lee says that South Korea can instead act as a “bridge” between the rival superpowers to prevent relations spiraling in this new era of Great Power competition. “Our values of democracy and market economy are based on our U.S.-South Korea alliance,” says Lee. “But because of our geographical proximity to China, and our historical relationship, economic ties, as well as people-to-people ties, we cannot completely sever our relationship with China. So we need to manage our relationship at an adequate level, and I believe that the Western world has to be understanding in this regard.”
2. Lee is not opposed to sanctions relief for North Korea
Regarding South Korea’s estranged brethren across the DMZ, Lee favors a policy of measured engagement with the Kim Jong Un regime to halt its nuclear weapons development in exchange for some sanctions relief. “If we tell North Korea to just stop, would they stop their programs?” he asks. “I believe that if we continue to apply the current pressure then … North Korea will continue to produce more bombs.”
“In world affairs, there are sometimes conflicts between what is right and what is beneficial,” says Lee. “And for the North Korean nuclear issue, we often think of this as a choice between all or nothing—whether we tolerate North Korea’s nuclear weapons or attain complete denuclearization. But I believe that there is a middle ground [and] … we can negotiate with North Korea to stop their nuclear and missile programs.”
Still, prospects for engagement appear slim given North Korea’s economic situation has fundamentally changed following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Kim believed to have reaped an estimated $20 billion from selling weapons and munitions to Russia and more lucre gained from the 12,000 or so troops he has dispatched to fight for Vladimir Putin. (Some 2,000 are believed to have died.) While Kim would be open to no-strings South Korean aid, he doesn’t need it, and especially not at the cost of appearing weak while the Russian cash spigot keeps flowing. Still, Lee is undeterred.
“I believe that we should distinguish our short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals,” he says. “As our short-term goal, we should stop their nuclear and missile programs. And we might be able to compensate them for some of these measures and afterwards then pursue disarmament and then complete denuclearization.”
3. Lee believes he can develop a rapport with Trump despite their divergent worldviews
The leaders of the U.S. and South Korea appear odd bedfellows. Trump was born with a silver spoon; Lee’s gambling addict father was too poor to even provide crayons. Trump has been repeatedly sued for alleged worker rights violations; Lee was a labor rights lawyer who gleefully brought exploitative tycoons to book. While Trump espouses a populist brand of conservatism, Lee’s Democratic Party adheres to a leftist, progressive orthodoxy.
Still, Lee believes he can build a personal rapport with the 45th and 47th U.S. President based on their unconventional upbringings and a mutual determination to succeed. “I believe that we share a commonality in that we both have a strong desire to accomplish many things and want to leave a legacy that people will remember,” says Lee. “We also share that we did not live a mainstream life like other people.”
Lee is also not cowed by the former reality TV star’s mercurial streak. “President Trump has led a successful life as a businessperson and, although he might look unpredictable on the outside, I believe that he is a very performance-oriented person and a very realistic person,” adds Lee. “He would not like to reach a conclusion where he would come out as a loser, and so he would not make an irrational choice, and because of this I believe that we were able to connect better than I initially anticipated.”
4. National reconciliation is Lee’s priority despite controversies
Ex-President Yoon’s martial law declaration brought tens of thousands of ordinary South Koreans onto the street and rekindled dark memories of military rule. However, the subsequent manner of Yoon’s impeachment was divisive in an already highly polarized society—a fact made plain by a politically-motivated 2024 knife attack on Lee that almost cost him his life.
Lee came to power vowing to heel South Korea’s riven society though has come under fire for pardoning some controversial allies, such as former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who had been serving a two-year jail term for forging documents to facilitate his children’s admission to prestigious schools and unlawful interference with a government inspection; as well as former lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang, who was convicted of personally using donations meant to help so-called “comfort women” forced to work in Japanese wartime brothels.
Asked about these pardons, Lee responds, “all things have two sides,” while describing them as “an inevitable choice.”
“I knew that public opinion would be divided on this issue but … it’s something that was necessary,” he says. “The current political landscape in South Korea [means] confrontation and divisions have become normalized and even just my breathing will draw criticism from some parts of society. I believe that my duty and my responsibility is to change this culture.”
5. Lee hopes to cash in on the K-culture boom
The so-called “Korean Wave” spread of South Korean popular culture—including K-pop, dramas, films, fashion, food, and technology—began in the 1990s and accelerated with government support following the 1997 Asian financial crisis as a way to galvanize national identity. Today, K-culture keeps breaking new ground with pop sensations like BTS and Blackpink commanding fanatical international fanbases, while the hit film KPop Demon Hunters just overtook fellow Korean export Squid Game to become Netflix’s most watched release ever.
Lee references an ancient Chinese work about Northeast Asian culture that references “a very courageous people with great power to wreak havoc who enjoy dancing and singing.”
“This is a reference to the Korean people,” says Lee with a smile. “Korea’s cultural capabilities were not created overnight [and] … have been there through the ages.”
Lee believes a key factor is that Korean society has no predominant religion but a smattering of similarly sized faiths that maintain a balanced following without chafing against each other.
“I believe that this shows the inclusivity of the Korean people, and this in modern days is being realized in the cultural realm,” he says. “I believe that South Korea will continue to surprise the world through its cultural capabilities and that Korean soft power will be further enhanced through K-culture. And I have hopes to utilize Korea’s cultural industry in connection with our industrial aspects to benefit the economy.”
Write to Charlie Campbell at charlie.campbell@time.com.
