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On August 25, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung sat face-to-face with US President Trump, "I plan to ask the South Korean side to hand over the land ownership of some large US military bases stationed in South Korea to the US side." Trump made a straightforward request to the South Korean leader in front of the media, as if this was not the opening remarks of the meeting between the two heads of state, but a real estate negotiation.

"I look forward to your meeting with Kim Jong Un, building Trump Tower in North Korea and playing golf there," Mr. Lee responded, maintaining his usual composure. The 140-minute meeting, originally planned for two hours, seemed amicable but undercurrent, underscoring Mr. Lee's attempt to balance diplomacy with "giants" such as China, the United States and Japan.

The White House meeting on August 25, 2025, was full of intriguing details. The meeting was originally planned for two hours and ended up lasting 140 minutes, showing that the two sides had a lot to negotiate.

Trump publicly expressed his intention to ask South Korea to hand over land ownership of some US military "large military bases" in South Korea to the United States, claiming to get rid of the "lease" issue.In fact, under the US-South Korea agreement, South Korea not only provides free land for the US military to use, but also shares a large amount of the cost of stationing troops. When asked if he would reduce the number of US troops in South Korea, Trump evaded: "I don't want to discuss it now because we have always been friends." Behind this seemingly friendly statement is the uncertainty in the relationship between the United States and South Korea.

Given the current tense situation on the Korean Peninsula,Trump also said he wanted to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year"I get along very well with him [Kim Jong Un]," he said. "I think his country has great potential and bright prospects." Mr. Lee responded humorously, looking forward to seeing "Trump Tower" and golf courses in North Korea, which also highlighted the US and South Korean leaders' common position to ease the situation on the Korean peninsula through dialogue.

Economic and trade issues became the focus of the talks.Trump said South Korea wanted to "renegotiate" the US-South Korea trade deal reached in July and that he "wouldn't mind" renegotiating it, but stressed that "that doesn't mean they get anything". Lee Jae-myung said South Korea was willing to participate in the revival of manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding that the United States is promoting. Trump responded that the United States intends to purchase some ships from South Korea, and hopes that South Korean shipbuilders will use local labor to produce in the United States. Trump also said that he will visit South Korea soon to participate in an economic and trade conference hosted by South Korea. It is speculated that this is likely to refer to the informal meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in South Korea at the end of October. It is worth noting that just hours after Lee Jae-myung's meeting with Trump, Korean Air announced that it would buy more than 100 Boeing aircraft, worth a total of about $50 billion. This timing was no accident, but a demonstration of South Korea's sincerity to the US.

Trump said that the United States will work with South Korea and Japan to develop oil and gas resources in Alaska, but there are historical problems between South Korea and Japan, and he doubts whether it will be difficult for South Korea and Japan to get along. Lee Jae-ming explained that considering that Trump attaches great importance to South Korea-US-Japan cooperation, he visited Japan before the South Korea-US summit to deal with Trump's concerns in advance. He said that when he met with the Japanese leader, he felt that many obstacles between the two countries had been removed.

There was also an unexpected episode during the talks: Trump invited Lee Zai-ming to visit China with him."The Chinese leader wants me to visit Beijing," Mr. Trump said during the meeting. "It's a very important relationship." He then extended an invitation to Mr. Lee: "Maybe we'll go together. If you want to go together, we can share a plane. It will save energy and protect the ozone layer." Mr. Lee responded: "I'd like to go with you." The offer, while perhaps a whim, reflected the complex interaction of diplomacy in northeast Asia. Mr. Trump also stressed: "We will have a good relationship with China. It's happening, and you see it, it's happening."

In the political arena of Northeast Asia in 2025, a wonderful diplomatic "ballet" will be staged. After taking office, South Korea's new President Lee Jae-ming swung out the "three axes" with lightning speed.He broke the custom of giving priority to the visit to the United States after taking office. He first visited Japan and drank wine with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba; then flew to Washington to have a "transactional" dialogue with US President Trump¡£

During his visit to the United States, Lee Jae-myung not only held a long meeting with Trump, but also witnessed South Korea's Korean Air announce the purchase of 103 Boeing aircraft, a deal worth $50 billion in the history of Korean aviation. At the same time, Lee Jae-myung also sent a special mission to Beijing to hand out an "olive branch" to China. This series of actions is like a carefully choreographed drama, showing South Korea's ingenious balancing act between the three giants of China, the United States and Japan.

Li Jaiming's visit order of "first come later beauty" broke the convention

Behind this is not only the internal factors of changing from an opposition leader to a national leader, but also the diplomatic need to work with Japan to respond to U.S. pressure on tariff and security issues. During the talks, the two sides also discussed the trilateral relations between the United States, South Korea and Japan. Li Zai-ming said that cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan is very important. In order to promote the development of South Korea, South Korea and Japan relations must also be improved to a certain extent. Lee Zee-ming's diplomatic "triple strikes" are by no means a whim, but South Korea's survival instinct in the geopolitical storm. South Korea is like a small boat sailing in the stormy seas of the "Three Kingdoms Killing" of China, Japan and the United States. North Korea's nuclear sword hangs high in the north, Japan's historical "ghost" in the south, China's economic "magnetic field" in the west, and the United States 'security "shield" in the east.

Priority visit to Japan is Li Zaiming's clear understanding of the security reality

Since the normalization of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan in 1965, South Korean presidents have rarely visited Japan first. On August 23, Lee met with Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo. The two agreed to restart "shuttle diplomacy", expand working vacation plans, and deepen cooperation in the fields of national defense, economic security and artificial intelligence. On the sensitive issue of historical understanding, Shigeru Ishiba said that he would inherit the positions of successive Japanese cabinets, including the 1998 Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration. This is not just a simple handshake, but a continuation of the "honeymoon" of South Korea and Japan during the Yin era, but also injected Li's "pragmatic" flavoring. North Korea launches missiles frequently, and its nuclear threat is like the sword of Damocles. The 2023 Camp David Summit laid the foundation for the trilateral framework of the United States, Japan and South Korea, including intelligence sharing and joint military exercises. Li Ziming continued this legacy, but unlike Yin Xiyue's "total concessions", he emphasized a "future orientation" and shelved historically sensitive issues such as comfort women and forced labor recruitment to avoid a rebound in domestic anti-Japanese sentiment.

The visit to the United States is a precise response to Trump's "transactional diplomacy"

After Trump took office, he regained "America First" and threatened to impose high tariffs on South Korea. As the seventh largest trading partner of the United States, South Korea urgently needs "fire prevention". The United States regained "America First" and threatened to impose high tariffs on South Korea. As the seventh largest trading partner of the United States, South Korea urgently needs "fire prevention". In his meeting with Trump, Lee Jae-myung reaffirmed that the "unbreakable" alliance between South Korea and the United States is also the cornerstone of South Korea's great power diplomacy. But he also sent a signal that he will not easily adjust the "strategic flexibility" of the US military in South Korea. This is a kind of "softness with stiffness" - to strengthen the alliance while retaining room for maneuver.

While relying on the United States and Japan for security, South Korea cannot lose China "financial master" economically.

Mr. Lee's visit to the US coincided with a special envoy led by Mr. Park, the former speaker of the National Assembly, on the 33rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. The message was clear: South Korea wanted to "normalise" relations with China and boost economic co-operation. This was not a simple courtesy visit, but Lee Jae-ming's "firewall" to the competition between China and the United States - relying on the United States and Japan for security and not losing China as a "top gifter" economically. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, accounting for a quarter of South Korea's exports in 2024, with trade worth as much as $300 billion.

To understand Li Ziming's "balance technique", we cannot do without Yin Xiyue's "lessons learned from the past". The diplomacy of the Yin era was like a high-speed train speeding on the track of "values diplomacy" but eventually derailed.Since taking office, Yoon has used the banner of a "global hub state" to forcefully repair relations between South Korea and Japan: addressing forced labor compensation, promoting intelligence sharing, and even criticizing China's human rights issues at the United Nations.He attended NATO summits, provided aid to Ukraine, and expanded development aid. But behind this "spectacle" came a series of domestic "storms": frequent anti-Japanese demonstrations, plummeting support ratings, and the economy hurt by tough China - Chinese tourists plummeted, semiconductor exports were restricted, and finally exited in a series of storms.

Yin's "ideological diplomacy" ignores the realities of people's livelihood and is criticized as "pro-US one-sided"¡£He strengthened cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea, but alienated China and Russia, causing South Korea to "take sides" in the Indo-Pacific economic framework, and companies complained endlessly. In the end, Yin's "arbitrary" style-such as the brief "martial law" storm in 2024-accelerated his ouster. His legacy is fraught with contradictions: a diplomatic boost, but a "fragmented society" at home.

Lee Jae-ming is like a "correction master", inheriting the mantle of Moon Jae-in's progressive faction, but more down-to-earth¡£As a former governor of Gyeonggi Province, Li is known for "putting people's livelihood first" and criticized Yin for "ignoring the dialogue between China and Russia." After taking office, he pursued pragmatic diplomacy centered on "national interests": retaining the trilateral security framework, but "upgrading economic relations" through visiting China. Li's motivation stems from three pressures: First, the domestic economy is facing the dilemma of soaring inflation and unemployment, which needs to be boosted by China's market; while in the global changes, strategic competition between China and the United States has intensified, and the increasing uncertainty requires an increase in balance; and his personal diplomatic philosophy focuses more on dialogue rather than confrontation. Compared with Yin's "ideological rage", Li's "low-key" is more like a "Tai Chi push"-leverage strength to avoid head-on. This marks the transformation of South Korea's diplomacy from "idealistic fanaticism" to "realistic sobriety".

After the White House talks, Li Zaiming stood in front of the South Lawn of the White House and smiled in front of the reporter's camera. Li Zai-ming's "balancing technique" comes at a turning point in South Korea's history: North America calls for free trade, the attraction of the China market in the west, and the entanglement of historical grievances in the east.

Hello, readers and friends of Tencent News! I am a scholar who is concerned about relations between major powers and security in the Asia-Pacific region. I have a doctorate in international relations from Renmin University of China. I have studied and worked in New Zealand for many years. Welcome to continue to pay attention to my works and bring you a comprehensive and in-depth interpretation!