From the Trump flight to Seoul, now full count is two days left.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung probably can't sleep well these days.
Because of this meeting, the United States brought not a friendly greeting, but a "deal list" that made it difficult for South Korea to retreat.
$35 billion in bills
Let's talk about the first thing first. Regarding money, Trump has long made it out, asking South Korea to invest US$350 billion in the United States.
How exaggerated is this number? South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister of Economy gave a statement before that the amount of investment that South Korea can squeeze out a year is at most 20 billion US dollars.
To calculate it, you know, 35 billion plus 20 billion, this will take ten years.
What about South Korea's own economic development in the past ten years? Is industrial upgrading still done? If all this money goes to the United States, how will domestic enterprises and ordinary people live?
What is even more problematic is the exchange rate issue. In recent months, the U.S. dollar has been rising, but the Korean won has been falling. When we first talked about this investment amount, the exchange rate was not so outrageous. Now that the Korean won has depreciated so badly, the amount of money South Koreans actually have to pay is more than ten trillion won.
What is this equivalent to? The price of things hasn't gone up, but your money is worthless, so you have to bite the bullet and buy it.
The United States also threatened with tariffs. Trump directly said, if you don't agree, I will increase the tariffs on South Korean goods to 25%.
South Korea's manufacturing industry, the profit rate was not high, probably between 5% and 10%. if the tariffs were to be added, South Korean enterprises exported goods to the United States, basically is to sell a loss one piece.
South Korean media is now speculating that Lee Jae-ming may choose a compromise solution, which is to invest US$25 billion each year first for four years, and pay for the 100 billion first.
What about the remaining 250 billion? Then delay it. Anyway, Trump will step down four years later. When the time comes, a new president may be able to pay off this debt.
Of course, this idea is quite idealistic, will the United States promise, that’s another thing.
The struggle for territorial sovereignty
More than paying money for the Koreans, the United States has looked at South Korea's land.
Previously, South Korea was borrowing land for free to the U.S. military in South Korea, and now the United States is not satisfied and wants to take ownership of land directly.
Especially in the large core landscape of the camp of Hampshire, the United States has a hard heart to do it.
South Korea originally the area of the country is small, the whole country combined only 100,000 square kilometers out of the beginning, not yet our province is larger.
Some time ago, something made Koreans even more angry. 30% of the land of Longshan base in Seoul has been recovered, and the Korean government originally planned to build a park for citizens' leisure.
As a result, once tested, the soil was seriously polluted and could not be used at all. Who caused this pollution? Of course it is the U.S. military. However, the US military left without any responsibility, leaving behind a mess.
The common people have long had opinions on this matter, and now they hear that more land sovereignty will be sent out, and there is a lot of abuse on the Internet. Some Korean netizens said directly, "What's the difference between this and colonial rule?" Others ask, why should our country's land be given to others?
Li Ziming was caught in the middle and was really in a dilemma. If he rejects the United States, the United States will definitely retaliate and may actually withdraw its troops or give South Korea a disadvantage in other aspects.
But if he agrees, it will be sending the country's sovereignty to the outside world. When the time comes, he will probably feel uncomfortable.
Impact on China's surroundings
This incident happened on the Korean Peninsula, across a river from our northeast, so the impact will definitely not escape.
Why does the United States have to take ownership of these bases? Is it to build a house and engage in development? Of course not. It wants to turn South Korea into a permanent military stronghold, and it can do whatever it wants, and the South Korean government can't control it.
At the time, the United States wanted to build the "Thad" system to these bases, wanted to deploy more offensive weapons, and South Korea could not say no. The security environment in our Northeast region will definitely be affected.
Everyone was okay, now the United States has to do things, and the whole situation in Northeast Asia will become more complicated.
South Korea's semiconductors, auto parts, are all important links in our industrial chain.
If South Korea really plunged $3500 billion into the United States, China-Korea industrial cooperation will surely be hit.
Trump's hand, obviously, is to force Lee to stand on the sidelines of the election. Either go with the United States to deal with China, or have to "cut off compensation" compromise. The United States also wants to pull Japan, make a small circle in Northeast Asia, and tie South Korea to "anti-Chinese war vehicles".
The geographical environment around us will definitely become more unstable because of this incident.
South Korea's dilemma
In the end, what Li faces in Ming is a situation where it is "difficult to sign and not to sign."
If it is signed, the domestic people will not agree, and the opposition party will also talk about it, saying that he betrayed the national interests. If you don't sign it, the United States will definitely turn its face, and then South Korea will be hit in security and economy.
Trump's approach is to treat international relations as business. He felt that the United States had provided security guarantees to South Korea, so South Korea had to exchange it with money and land. But can this kind of agreement forged through pressure last long?
South Korea now is most hopeful, is to delay a day a day, can negotiate a few rounds more, can delay until Trump falls.
Trump will arrive on the 29th, and there is really not much time left for Li Zai-ming. We will wait and see what the outcome of this meeting will be. However, one thing is certain: this US-South Korea meeting will have a significant impact on the entire situation in Northeast Asia.
Source of information:
Trump 2.0 Asia "premiere": five days three countries, there is a fake reality 2025-10-26 20:27· news
South Korea's US $350 billion investment in the United States has reached a deadlock, and the joint shipbuilding project is also far away 2025-09-09 21: 25 · Observer.com