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White House releases photos underscoring cordial mood of Lee-Trump summit

Published: 02 Sep. 2025, 09:42

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts President Lee Jae Myung in a bilateral summit at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25. [YONHAP]

The White House has unveiled dozens of photos taken during last month's summit between Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, including a guest book in which Lee expressed his hope for a "strong and great" future for the bilateral alliance.

On Flickr, an image sharing service, some 40 photos were released from the Aug. 25 summit, showing a variety of scenes, including Trump's greeting of Lee at the West Wing entrance, their Oval Office meeting and their handshake and chat at the Resolute Desk.

A photo showed Lee, flanked by his chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik and his interpreter, explaining something to Trump. Another showed many "Make America Great Again" hats bearing his autographs on their visors that the White House prepared as gifts for Korean officials.

Many of the photos captured the cordial mood of the summit — a high-stakes meeting that Lee and his staff sought to make successful, as Korea aimed to enhance bilateral cooperation on security, trade, technology and other areas.

One photo showed Lee's handwritten message in a guest book: "In the golden era of the Korea-U.S. alliance, a strong and great future starts anew."

Lee has stressed the alliance as the foundation of his administration's foreign and security policy under his "pragmatic" diplomatic approach.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts President Lee Jae Myung in a bilateral summit at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25. [YONHAP]

Another photo showed Trump and Lee viewing news coverage of their meeting on a TV screen. In other photos, Lee was seen smiling and shaking hands with top U.S. officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Photos also showed Korean officials accompanying Lee, including Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, National Security Advisor Wi Sung-lac and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan.

Observers largely saw the summit as having proceeded well despite Trump's pre-summit social media post apparently critical of the Lee administration.

Yonhap