Lee has recently been referred to as “fire”.
He has changed the “weakness” that South Korea had previously implemented.
Not only did it strongly reject the statement of $350 billion in cash from the United States, but it was also reported that the heads of the four major Korean groups would be called, and they planned to go to Trump's "Mar-a-Lago" this weekend to stage a wave of "candle martial arts retreat from Qin Division".
The coming of these people is not easy.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics chairman, Li in Qing, SK Group chairman, Trai Taizong, Modern Automobile Group chairman, Zheng Yishan, and LG Group chairman,Every step in the way can shake the whole Korean economy.
When the news returned to China, many Chinese people marveled again and again.
Is South Korea really going to stand up in this change?
In the autumn of 2025, South Korea's national security adviser Wei Shengluo made a resounding statement in front of the camera.
Thirty-five billion dollars in cash is beyond its capacity, which is a reality, not a negotiated strategy.
This speech directly broke the lies of Trump's "Korea proactively sends money" in the mouth, and also opened a new prelude to the Korean-American game.
A week later, at the negotiating table in Washington.
The planned Treasury Secretary has disclosed foreign exchange data to US Treasury Secretary Besson. Paying this money is equivalent to draining 90% of South Korea's foreign exchange reserves, and the 1997 financial crisis will repeat itself.
Bessent remained silent for a moment, promising to deliver it to the White House, but it was clear that what Trump wanted was not an explanation, but cash.
Behind the government's toughness, the business side's actions are more appealing.
The Mar-Lago Manor Summit hosted by SoftBank was originally a business gathering for the AI industry, but the collective attendance of South Korea's four leaders was full of political connotations.
They brought plans for battery factory expansion and semiconductor cooperation, but kept silent about "cash advance".
This is Li Ziming's tacit understanding, Use cooperation to talk about interests, instead of exchanging cash for living.
Someone asked, Where did Li Zaiming have the courage to disobey Trump's words so much, but instead to make an "out-of-the-market move" with great energy?
In fact, South Korea's "hardness" has never been impulsive, but has been cornered by the account books.
Hyundai Motor will export 1.015 million vehicles to the United States in 2024, accounting for 46.5% of South Korea's total exports, but the 25% tariff has caused sales to drop by 15%.
Even so, the 350 billion cash demand is still like a mountain.
The memory of 1997 still stings Koreans.
At that time, there were only US $3.87 billion in foreign exchange reserves, and the Korean won plummeted to 1891: 1. People donated 227 tons of gold in exchange for respite.
Today, the reserves of 416,3 billion seem to be sufficient, but if 3500 billion is drawn out, it would be equivalent to returning to the night before the crisis.
What is even more dazzling is that South Korea's total global direct investment in the past five years has only been 348.9 billion yuan, which is less than the amount required by the United States.
Compared with Japan's compromise, it is even more cruel.
Japan has 85 billion foreign exchange reserves. However, in exchange for the clause that 90% of the profits will return to the United States after the principal is recovered, the price of survival of the automobile industry is that farmers bear the impact of low-priced rice in the United States.
Many netizens bluntly said that even with loan guarantees, the investment of 350 billion yuan in a single country would be unheard of.
So the question is, can South Korea withstand this pressure?
It's hard to say, the United States is never afraid of South Korea saying no, because it holds enough chips.
In early September, a modern and LG joint-venture battery factory in Georgia was suddenly attacked, and more than 300 South Korean workers were arrested over visa issues.
The tariffs are more accurate.
It is the first market for South Korea's automobile and shipbuilding industries in the United States, and the 25% tariff is enough to reduce Hyundai Motor's annual profit by 30%.
Trump even said that he would not sign the contract before APEC in November, and the tax rate was mentioned at 30%.
This coercion, As early as the negotiations on military expenditure in South Korea, the United States had asked South Korea to raise its share from 870 million to 5 billion, and also cover the expenditure of the US military in Guam.
Japan’s “Front Car” has become a tool of pressure.
Trump showed the US-Japan agreement at the White House, Tokyo knew the rules, and 550 billion yuan was exchanged for 15% tariff.
But he did not say that there were no Japanese representatives in the Japanese investment committee, and the purpose of the funds was all calculated by the US.
On the other hand, although Li Zaiming didn't learn from Japan's compromise, he couldn't afford to play a complete head-to-head confrontation.
The alternative plan he put forward was filled with helplessness.
Thirty-five billion dollars in 10 years, 10% in the first two years, the remainder of the US battery factory, both gave Trump the "employment creation" performance, but also preserved South Korea's foreign currency.
More obscure compromises are hidden in military spending.
It is that South Korea is considering increasing the proportion of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea in exchange for a grace period for cash payments.
This move was a risky move.
The rise in the stake of only 8.2% during Yin Xi'an was protested by the people, and now if concessions are made, the accusation of "America's dog" will directly crush the support rate.
Currently, Lee is in his office with two documents.
One is the drone development program, 20.5 billion yuan invested in the training of "five thousand drone fighters", and the unmanned KUS-FX capability to hit targets 600 kilometers away.
The other is a statement from the US-South Korea 2+2 meeting, which states that extended deterrence relies on U.S. nuclear capabilities.
He knows, The immediate compromise is for breathing space, and the real confidence must be worked out by weapons and industry.
But the reality is that the U.S. military still holds the operational command of the Korean Peninsula, and South Korea's resistance can only turn within the framework of others.
Even if U.S. officials understand their difficulties, Trump wants political figures.
The APEC summit is approaching, and this is Li Zai-ming's last chance for face-to-face negotiations with Trump.
However, even if the negotiation is completed, South Korea will not be able to escape the "weak clause". The right to speak on investment belongs to the United States, and the United States will still take the lion's share of profits.
In the long run, Li Ziming's layout has already taken action.
The defense budget is tilted towards drones and robots in an attempt to "target breakthroughs" in the field of future weapons.
Promote the upgrading of enterprise technology and reduce the single dependence on the US market.
But these are all slow steps. Looking at North Korea's missiles and U.S. military bases, the gap in South Korea's strength is visible to the naked eye.
The moment the golf ball landed, South Korea's battle for "decency" had just reached midfield.
In the short term, it is a game of $350 billion, and in the long term it is a race of power and sovereignty.
Source: Observer Network's September 28, 2025 report on "South Korea waving its hands: We really can't handle the 350 billion yuan the United States wants"
conclusion
Now Lee is in mind, the intention is actually very clear, Changing time with industrial cooperation, and accumulating sovereignty with technology.
In 1997, South Koreans survived the crisis by donating gold. In 2025, Lee Zai-ming wanted to rely on hard technology to support his dignity.
The mud of the drone training base has not yet dried up, and the US-Korean joint military exercises have flooded over the peninsula, which contradicts the current situation in South Korea.
To say no, but not enough strength.
The game of 350 billion yuan will eventually come to an end, but the questions of strength and sovereignty will always be online.
Li Zaiming saw the road clearly, but he also knew that it would take ten or twenty years.
After all, on the international stage, there has never been any free decency, only the right to speak earned through strength. South Korea's awakening may have just begun.