Korea's President Lee tells TIME he 'would have been impeached' if he'd caved to Trump trade demands

President Lee Jae Myung said that he “would have been impeached” if he had agreed to the terms unilaterally presented by the United States regarding a $350 billion investment fund in a recent interview with TIME Magazine.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is seen in this cover photo for an interview with Time magazine [TIME]

President Lee Jae Myung said that he “would have been impeached” if he had agreed to the terms unilaterally presented by the United States regarding a $350 billion investment fund in a recent interview with TIME Magazine.

Lee made the comments in a TIME Magazine interview published Thursday under the headline, “The Bridge — Lee Jae-myung is rebooting South Korea and courting Donald Trump,” also featured on the front cover of the publication.

“So I asked the U.S. negotiating team for a reasonable alternative,” Lee said regarding the investment fund demanded by the United States.

During the South Korea-U.S. summit last month, the U.S. side made burdensome demands concerning the creation of the $350 billion fund and its profit-sharing scheme, according to TIME. Key issues reportedly included whether South Korea could pay the entire amount in cash and who would bear the losses if the investment failed.

At a press conference marking his first 100 days in office last Thursday, Lee also addressed criticism that South Korea had not signed the final tariff agreement after the summit. “Why should I sign if it is not in our interest?” he said. “We must ensure any agreement is as reasonable as possible. Don’t blame me for not signing.”

When asked during the press conference about U.S. President Donald Trump’s public remark during the summit that he wanted ownership of U.S. military bases in South Korea, Lee replied, “I think he was joking. The U.S. already uses those bases and land free of charge. And if they did own them, they would have to pay comprehensive property tax and real estate tax. We cannot give tax exemptions on that,” he added with a laugh.

TIME quoted Naomi Chi, a professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, as suggesting that Lee may have raised the issue of restarting dialogue with North Korea partly to shift Trump’s attention away from trade and investment disputes.

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25. [AP/YONHAP]

Asked whether he would consider nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts toward reconciliation with Pyongyang, Lee said, “If there is concrete progress on this issue [...] there is no other person who would deserve that prize.”

He added that real progress would mean “negotiations to partially ease or lift sanctions” on North Korea in exchange for a three-stage process: arms suspension, reduction, and finally denuclearization. “And I believe that President Trump would be on the same page,” Lee told TIME.

“We will stand together with the U.S. in the new global order, as well as supply chains centered on the U.S., but there is a need for us to manage our relationship with China so as not to antagonize them,” Lee told TIME.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second from right, and presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, far right, speak with U.S. President Donald Trump, far left, who is seated at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25. [THE WHITE HOUSE]

He warned that unless relations with China are carefully managed to avoid hostility, there is “a risk that South Korea could become the front line of a battle between two different blocs.”

Asked whether he would attend China’s Victory Day celebrations, Lee smiled and said, “I think China wanted me to attend, but I didn’t ask further.”

TIME also noted that Lee’s approval ratings dipped following his pardons on Liberation Day. The magazine described them as pardons for “controversial allies,” referring to Cho Kuk, interim leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and former lawmaker Youn Mee-hyang. Lee’s approval rating reportedly fell from 63 percent in late July to 51 percent in mid-August.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY YOON JI-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]