South Korea’s Lee Asks Trump to Broker Peninsula Peace, Floats North Korea Trump Tower

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung asked U.S. President Donald Trump to take a personal role in reviving peace talks on the Korean Peninsula during a meeting at the White House on Monday. Calling the peninsula “the only remaining divided nation in the world,” Lee said Trump was uniquely positioned to mediate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and urged him to pursue a fresh summit. In a light-hearted aside, Lee said he ‘looked forward to’ not only a Trump–Kim meeting but also the construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea and a round of golf together. While Trump did not commit to the real-estate idea, he said “we can make big progress” with Pyongyang if dialogue resumes. The two leaders also discussed trade and defense ties. Trump told reporters that Seoul may seek to renegotiate parts of the bilateral trade agreement, while the United States intends to buy ships from South Korean yards as part of an effort to rebuild its own ship-building capacity.