SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� South Korean President has dusted off his golf clubs in an attempt to forge a bond with President-elect , an avid lover of the game.
The presidential office said Tuesday that Yoon began practicing the game for the first time in eight years in preparation for a possible round of golf with Trump.
Since his election, Trump鈥檚 鈥淎merica first鈥� approach has raised concerns it could negatively affect the U.S. defense commitment to South Korea and hurt the trade interests of the Northeast Asian country in various ways, including .
Some experts say it鈥檚 important to build a close personal friendship with Trump during the before he formally takes office in January.
鈥淢uch could depend on whether Yoon is able to strike up positive chemistry with Trump immediately during the transition and foster a close personal friendship to convince him to want to support and advance Seoul鈥檚 interests,鈥� said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
Yoon and Trump discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation and agreed to hold an in-person meeting soon during a phone call on Thursday. The South Korean president later that while things couldn't remain the same as under the Biden administration, "we have been preparing to hedge these risks for a long time.鈥�
And apparently, a game of golf may be what's needed.
Local media said Yoon went to a Seoul golf course on Saturday, but the presidential office said it couldn't confirm the reports.
A senior presidential official, speaking on condition of anonymity in a background briefing, said that while he didn鈥檛 know how hard Yoon practiced golf, training was necessary as 鈥渙ur president also has to hit a ball properly to get conversations going on鈥� with Trump, who has 鈥渙utstanding鈥� golf skills.
Yoon isn鈥檛 the first world leader to try to use golf to develop relations with Trump.
When he was in office, Japan鈥檚 prime minister, Shinzo Abe, struck up a personal friendship with then-President Trump, on both in Japan and the U.S. In 2017, Abe said that a round of golf with Trump was a good chance to relax and discuss difficult issues.
Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
