POTUS meets with South Korean president in the Oval Office

The president said on Monday that the U.S. would be ‘going back to the shipbuilding business again,’ while looking to a business partnership with South Korea

by Summer Lane | August 25, 2025

President Donald Trump on Monday met with South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung for a bilateral event centered on strengthening ties between the two nations, with a special emphasis on peace and a return to American shipbuilding.

“We’re going to be buying ships from South Korea, but we’re also going to have them make ships here with our people,” Trump told the press. “…We’re going back to the shipbuilding business again.”

President Lee praised Trump’s goal to “make America great again” and complimented the recent gold-laden redecoration of the Oval Office.

“It looks very bright and beautiful,” he said.

Lee further applauded Trump’s efforts in bringing peace worldwide and asked Trump if he would work as well to bring peace to the Korean peninsula between North and South Korea – a sticking point between Lee and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

“The Korean people have great expectations for you, Mr. President,” Lee said. “Thank you, once again, for your time.”

Trump said it was a “great honor” to meet with Lee, despite posting a stringent statement questioning the political situation in South Korea just hours before the bilateral event.

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there,” Trump wrote initially on Truth Social.

During an Oval Office event centered on signing executive orders on Monday morning – just before President Lee Jae-Myung arrived at the White House – Trump was asked by the media to expand on his statement about South Korea.

Trump replied, “Well, I heard there were raids on churches over the last few days, very vicious raids on churches by the new government in South Korea, that they even went into a military base and got information…I don’t know if it’s true or not, I’ll be finding out,” he said. “…But we won’t stand for that, we just won’t stand for that.”

While it is difficult to locate reports or records confirming whether South Korean enforcement agencies are cracking down on religious organizations in the country, there have been some rumblings in the international press and even in the U.S.

According to the Associated Press, South Korean police forces did indeed conduct a raid on a church led by a “conservative activist pastor whom authorities allege is connected to a pro-Yoon protest in January that turned violent.”

Another report from France 24 alleged that South Korea has carried out raids on church locations linked to the “Unification Church” – a “conservative” church movement in South Korea that is purportedly disfavored by the government.

During President Trump’s bilateral press conference with Lee, the media asked a question about potential raids in South Korea and whether it would have an effect on trade talks.

“I heard from intel that there was a raid on churches,” Trump said. “…We’ll talk about that later.”

Lee offered a response on that point, as well. He said that it “hasn’t been long” since South Korea freed itself from the previous regime, and claimed that there is simply a “fact-finding investigation by a special prosecutor” that is “not under his control.”

He also was quick to assert that South Korea did not penetrate or conduct a “search and seizure” on U.S. military bases in the region, but rather, his government looked into the “chain of command and control system of the Korean military.”