by WorldTribune Staff, July 10, 2025 Real World News
In his first major appearance on the world stage, South Korea’s newly elected leftist President Lee Jae-Myung failed to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit in Canada last month.
Not meeting with Trump has already undermined Lee’s standing at home.
“The South Korean public is upset with Lee’s performance at the G-7,” Greg Scarlatoiu, president and CEO of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told columnist Gordon G. Chang. “He was expected to engage in his first significant diplomatic endeavor to prioritize trade and tariffs. A one-on-one meeting with Trump was the test in the eyes of the public.”
New York Sun columnist Donald Kirk noted that Lee further upset historic Korean-American ties by “pursuing what he calls a ‘pragmatic’ policy of attempting to play Washington against Beijing.”
After Lee invited Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping to an October meeting of leaders of member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cancelled a visit to Seoul that was scheduled for this week.
Rubio’s decision “has fueled concerns in Seoul that Washington’s shifting diplomatic priorities could undermine coordination on North Korea policy,” South Korea’s NK News reported.
The stated reason for the cancellation was that Rubio had to be on hand when President Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House for their first meeting since the “12-day war” that ended when American B-2 bombers blasted Iranian nuclear and missile facilities with bunker-buster bombs after the Israelis had bombed and shelled them.
Rubio “did not state that he was postponing the meeting in anticipation of a later visit,” Kirk noted. “Instead, he put off what were expected to be crucial talks on America’s military commitment to South Korea’s defense.”
The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea. Trump has hinted that he might want to withdraw several thousand of them while asking Seoul to contribute far more than the current $1.1 billion a year as its share of the costs.
South Korea’s national security adviser, Wi Sung-Lac, is scheduled to visit Washington this week to focus on another sensitive area in American-Korean relations — the 25 percent tariffs that Washington is about to impose on imports from South Korea, including motor vehicles.
A former Korean ambassador to Moscow, Wi said Seoul and Washington were “closely discussing trade and security issues” at “a critical phase,” according to Yonhap News.
“Under normal circumstances, South Korea would be well placed to compete in the U.S. market” on the basis of the existing free trade agreement, a former director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy, Tony Stangarone, writes. Now, however, “South Korea will need to reach a new understanding on trade to minimize the damage to key sectors such as automobiles and semiconductors.”
On a larger scale, the cancellation of Rubio’s visit to Seoul “has fueled concerns over the lack of high-level exchanges between the allies,” Yonhap reported.
Kirk noted: “Basically, Washington and Seoul have had an uneasy relationship since the crisis that began with the declaration of martial law in December by the man who was then South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk-Yeol.
Impeached and ousted, the conservative Yoon is now on trial for “insurrection” while his long-time nemesis, Lee, the left-leaning leader of the Minju, or Democratic Party, looks for talks with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un.
Wi sought to soften the impact of Lee’s invitation to Xi by saying Lee also hoped to meet Trump. He may even hint at such an invitation if he gets to see Rubio.
Lee is also expected to go to Beijing to attend a parade marking the 80th anniversary on Sept. 3 of what Beijing celebrates as China’s “victory” over Japan, which had already surrendered to the Americans on August 15, 1945.
Presidential candidate Song Jin-ho filed a complaint against the NEC (Election Commission) to nullify the 2025-6-3 presidential election results. Instead of the NEC being investigated, the NEC had Song’s office raided. Political persecution. https://t.co/vZOW32bNgF
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) July 9, 2025
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