The bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was held at the White House on Monday, the 25th, but the lack of any concrete outcomes is fueling speculation.

According to Yonhap News, Lee Jae-myung and his delegation held a public meeting for approximately 54 minutes in the Oval Office, followed by an expanded closed-door meeting in the Cabinet Room, and then a working lunch, with discussions continuing until 3:01 PM.

The meeting, which ran about 20 minutes longer than scheduled, has raised suspicions due to the complete absence of any announced results. Typically, after a summit meeting, the outcome of negotiations is announced, but this was not the case this time.

President Trump personally greeted and welcomed Lee Jae-myung upon his arrival at the White House, telling reporters, "We're going to have a good meeting today."

Indeed, the public portion of the meeting proceeded in a very cordial atmosphere, with President Lee praising and expressing humility towards President Trump.

Prior to the meeting, President Trump had drawn attention by posting on Truth Social that morning, "What is happening in South Korea? It looks like a purge or a revolution."

He also mentioned the search and seizure of churches and the Osan Air Base in South Korea to reporters during an executive order signing ceremony at the White House.

Consequently, there were high expectations that President Trump would make a statement regarding former President Yoon Suk-yeol during the meeting. It was predicted that there would at least be some event that would make President Lee uncomfortable.

During the public meeting, a reporter's question piqued the interest of viewers with these expectations. Columnist Jean Cummings summarized the conversation at the time on Facebook as follows:

Breaking News:

I will post the full transcript separately. For now, I am sharing the most critical remarks first.

(Please understand that due to being busy organizing the details of this meeting, this is a hastily posted real-time translation, and the sentence structure may not be perfect.)

Question from a male South Korean reporter:

Question to Trump:

“What are your thoughts on your remarks about South Korea this morning, such as the alleged raids on churches and entry into a military base?”

Question to Lee Jae-myung: Please explain that these events occurred in South Korea during our process of overcoming a “revolution of light” or a civil conflict.

Trump's response:

I heard from intelligence that there were raids on churches in South Korea. We will discuss that matter shortly. I have not yet discussed it with Lee Jae-myung. However, what we mean is, you know, if that is true, it would be a very bad thing. But I heard from intelligence that there were raids on churches, and some churches were closed. So we will discuss that later. (Looking at Lee Jae-myung) Would you like me to ask about that now?

I can’t believe that is happening. Because that is not the original image of Korea, and it doesn't seem like Korea. In any case, we will discuss this matter shortly.

Lee Jae-myung's response:

To put it simply, as you know, South Korea has only recently overcome the chaos caused by a "palace coup," and a fact-finding investigation is underway by a special prosecutor appointed by the National Assembly, led by the National Assembly, regarding the civil conflict.

Of course, it is not under my control, but what the South Korean prosecution is doing is fact-checking. They did not directly investigate the U.S. military, but rather confirmed how the control system of the South Korean military within that unit operated. I will explain in more detail later.

Response from an associate of Lee Jae-myung: (Unidentified)

South Korea has long since overcome the political chaos caused by the former president's self-coup. A fact-finding investigation is currently underway by a special prosecutor appointed by the National Assembly.

.

Trump interjects:

(And is the name of this special prosecutor perhaps **'Deranged Jack Smith'?** He is someone we brought over from our country. Jack is truly a deranged, sick individual. Now, please continue. It's a joke, but perhaps it's not a joke.)

**The meaning of this joke is that upon hearing about the situation in Korea, he insinuated, "Could that special prosecutor also be a lunatic like Jack Smith?"**

Follow-up response from an associate of Lee Jae-myung:

That special prosecutor is not under my control. Therefore, that special prosecutor is conducting the fact-finding investigation.

And what I would like to say is, regarding your mention of the U.S. base, South Korea did not search or raid a U.S. base. Instead, we confirmed how the command and control system of the South Korean military within the U.S. base operated. I would like to explain that point.

Cutting off Trump:

It's okay. Just a moment. It's probably a misunderstanding. But the rumors about church raids are also true. We will discuss that separately. I am confident that it will be resolved well.

※Source:

https://www.facebook.com/Jeanhpak/posts/pfbid02xytZjMhNRQnpLsGykU2gsddEVTmFbnWM33acXBavFHJWmUpSjQctjNdAfLAAabNPl

Former National Assembly member Min Kyung-wook pointed out on Facebook that the response was "off-topic." He stated, "Trump asked for Lee Jae-myung's stance on the church raids in response to a reporter's question, but Lee Jae-myung responded by talking about the investigation of President Yoon Suk-yeol and the search of a U.S. Air Force base."

According to a report by Channel A, about two hours before meeting President Lee, President Trump told reporters, "I've heard that the new government in South Korea has conducted some very rough raids on churches in the past few days," adding, "They even entered military bases to gather information, and if that's true, that's something that should never be done."

Unlike when President Lee arrived at the White House, President Trump was not visible when he departed.

This is why attention is inevitably focused on what was discussed during the closed-door meeting.

NNP=Chief Reporter Sung Ku Hong, USA info@newsandpost.com