Tag: Lee Jae-myung

Trump already signed a trade deal with Japan so we will see if South Korea decides to follow Japan’s lead or not and sign a trade deal as well:

Hosting the APEC summit for the first time in 20 years gives Lee a rare opportunity to welcome the U.S. and Chinese leaders on his home turf after less than five months in office. 

Lee is scheduled to hold summit talks with Trump on Tuesday and with Xi on Saturday. Consultations are under way to arrange a meeting with Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday.

The stakes are particularly high for Lee’s meeting with Trump as Seoul and Washington are in intense negotiations to narrow gaps over South Korea’s US$350 billion investment pledge, aimed at finalizing a trade deal that would reduce U.S. tariffs on Korean goods. 

Whether the two sides can clinch an agreement in time for the summit remains uncertain as negotiations continue over key sticking points, including the financing of the investment package. 

Wednesday’s summit will mark Lee and Trump’s second in-person meeting following their August talks at the White House.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Lee Jae-myung’s should send President Trump a thank you card because his tariff rhetoric and crackdown on illegal Korean workers has caused the ROK President’s poll ratings to rise:

 President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating edged up to 60 percent, a poll showed Friday.

In a Gallup Korea survey of 1,001 adults conducted Tuesday through Thursday, 60 percent gave a positive evaluation of Lee’s performance, up 2 percentage points from the previous week.

Lee’s approval rating, which had stayed above 60 percent following his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in late August, slid to 58 percent as he marked his 100th day in office last week.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It would be interesting to learn what part of the trade deal that President Lee was trying to renegotiate:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Seoul and Washington agreed to keep last month’s bilateral trade deal unchanged though there was a “problem,” as he held summit talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Washington the previous day.

Trump made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting, while touting a series of agreements that his administration has reached with countries to reduce America’s trade deficits and boost federal coffers.

“I heard there was a problem with South Korea, but we met yesterday, and they are done. We didn’t do it. We just kept the same deal. He honored the deal,” he said.

“They wanted to see if … well, I don’t even want to say it, but they wanted to see if they could do something. But they honored the deal, which is nice,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I think support for the operational flexibility for USFK will be a major outcome from this summit:

President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump will hold their first summit in Washington on Aug. 25 to discuss ways to bolster the two nations’ alliance and cooperation in advanced industries, the presidential office said Tuesday.

Lee will depart for a three-day visit to the United States on Aug. 24, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters, marking his first visit to the U.S. since he took office in early June.

“The two leaders plan to discuss ways to develop the Korea-U.S. alliance into a future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance in response to the changing international security and economic environment,” Kang said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

There was no way Lee Jae-myung was going to keep such a high popularity rating. Like all other ROK presidents before him his approval rating is beginning to slide the longer he is in office:

President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating slid for the first time since his inauguration in June after rising for five consecutive weeks, a survey showed Monday.

According to the survey by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, positive assessment of Lee’s performance fell 2.4 percentage points to 62.2 percent from the previous week, while negative assessment rose 2.3 percentage points to 32.3 percent.

The pollster said controversies surrounding ministerial nominees during last week’s confirmation hearings and damage from the recent torrential rains appear to have negatively affected the approval ratings.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.