South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung, Trump agree to swift tariff negotiations in first phone call

New President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to work towards “satisfactory” tariff negotiations in their first bilateral phone call on June 6.

The 20-minute call began at 10 p.m. and marked the first official communication between the two leaders.

The two presidents “agreed to work together to quickly reach an agreement that satisfies both sides regarding the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations as soon as possible,” Lee’s office said. “To this end, they agreed to encourage tangible results in working-level negotiations.”

At the beginning of the call, Trump congratulated Lee on his victory in this week’s presidential election, the office said in a statement. Lee expressed his gratitude and mentioned the importance of South Korea-U.S. alliance as “the foundation of South Korea’s diplomacy.”

The two presidents praised each other’s leadership and agreed to work closely together to further develop the alliance, the office added in a statement released by presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.

Trump invited Lee to visit the United States. To this, Lee responded that he hopes as the two countries are “special allies,” they will be able to meet frequently to discuss the development of the alliance.

The presidents “agreed to meet as soon as possible, either through a multilateral conference or a bilateral visit, to discuss in more depth the development of South Korea-U.S. alliance,” Lee’s office said.

The call was “held in a friendly and informal atmosphere,” it said, noting that the two leaders shared various experiences during their presidential election campaigns.

This included sharing their opinions on assassination risks and political difficulties they each experienced. They “agreed that strong leadership emerges from overcoming difficulties,” the office said.

In January 2024, Lee was stabbed in the neck while visiting Busan. Trump likewise survived an assassination attempt while campaigning in Pennsylvania in July 2024.

They spoke on their respective golf skills and agreed to go for a round of golf when possible, the top office said. Lee also shared he had received a hat signed by Trump.

The call came after concerns in Seoul about the dayslong delay in the customary first phone call with the U.S. president. Preceding Korean presidents have spoken with U.S. presidents immediately after taking office.

Lee took office on June 4 after the snap election on June 3 without a two-month transition period following the ouster of his predecessor President Yoon Suk Yeol for his martial law declaration last December.

A presidential official told reporters on June 4 that coordinating of the call took in consideration “the time difference, various scheduling issue and many unique circumstances.”

The call was expected to be an icebreaker opportunity for the two leaders. However, the two countries also have difficult pending issues at hand amid the Trump administration’s tariffs measures and possible calls for allies to pay more in defense cost-sharing.

This comes amid speculation over when the two leaders can hold their first in-person meeting. Such an occasion could include at upcoming multilateral summits including the Group of Seven, or G7, summit, scheduled for June 15 and 17 in Canada, or the NATO summit set for June 24 and 25 in the Netherlands. Since 2022, NATO has invited the leaders of its four Asia-Pacific partners — South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — to attend its annual summit. The leaders reportedly were invited again this year.

BY SARAH KIM   [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]