President Trump posted on his social networking service (SNS), Truth Social, about 2 hours and 30 minutes before the South Korea-U.S. summit, saying, “What is happening in South Korea? It looks like a purge or a revolution. We cannot accept it and cannot do business there.”
Later, at the signing of an executive order just before the summit, he claimed, “I heard that over the past few days, the South Korean government has raided churches and collected information from our military base.”
Immediately afterwards, at the summit held between President Lee and President Trump in the Oval Office, there was a direct exchange with reporters regarding this matter.
When asked about his SNS post, President Trump said, “I heard there was a church raid, and if true, it’s unfortunate,” requesting an explanation from President Lee.
In response, President Lee explained, “A fact-finding investigation is being conducted by a special prosecutor appointed by the National Assembly,” adding, “What the prosecutor is doing is fact-checking, not directly investigating the US military but checking the Korean military control system within the base.”
President Trump then remarked, “I think it’s a misunderstanding,” and added, “There were rumors about a church raid, but I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.”
Previously, the special prosecutor conducted raids on Pastor Kim Jang-hwan, chairman of FEBC, and Pastor Lee Young-hoon of Yoido Full Gospel Church. Pastor Lee is known to have ties with President Trump’s eldest son, Trump Jr., and Pastor Kim is known to communicate with key figures of the U.S. Republican Party.