Of all the issues President Lee Jae-myung discussed with President Donald Trump at the White House on
August 25, perhaps the thorniest was ROK-U.S. alliance modernization. To be sure, both nations broadly agree
that modernization is necessary. After the summit, Lee gave a speech at the Center for International and Strategic
Studies (CSIS), a major think tank in Washington, in which he stated “At the summit meeting today with
President Trump, President Trump and I agreed to make and modernize our bilateral alliance to be more reciprocal
and future-oriented in line with the changing security landscape.” But neither Lee nor Trump offered many
concrete details on how to do it, likely reflecting tensions—even rising tensions—behind the scenes regarding
this critical part of the U.S.-ROK relationship.