Seoul appoints envoy to US who called Trump ‘treacherous’

Seoul, Aug 9 (AFP/APP):South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed a new ambassador to the US who has described Donald Trump as “treacherous”, only a month after Britain’s envoy to Washington had to step down over his criticisms of the US president.

In the early 2000s, Lee Soo-hyuck, a career diplomat before becoming a ruling party lawmaker, was Seoul’s chief negotiator in the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Now he will be responsible for guiding the relationship between Seoul and Washington, who have not always seen eye-to-eye over the nuclear-armed North or their own ties.

But only last year the South’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper cited him as criticising Trump.

Lee had been asked about an incident at the White House when the US president declined to have Moon’s answer to a reporter’s question translated, saying “I’m sure I’ve heard it before”.

Lee told the paper: “That’s Trump’s style. I don’t think he’s only done that to Moon. He’s treacherous,” adding that as a former businessman the US leader had a tendency to say insincere things.

“To be honest, I really don’t like”, Lee went on, without making clear whether his disapproval was of Trump personally or his manner.

His appointment comes only a month after Britain’s ambassador to Washington resigned after Trump targeted him over highly critical comments that put London and Washington’s relationship on edge.

In a series of confidential diplomatic cables revealed by a British newspaper, Kim Darroch described the US leader as “inept” and his White House as “uniquely dysfunctional”, adding the president was “radiating insecurity”.
Trump hit back with a torrent of angry tweets, saying he would not deal with Darroch again, describing him as a “very stupid guy” and a “pompous fool”, also calling Britain’s then prime minister Theresa May “foolish”.

Seoul and Washington are in a security alliance and the US stations 28,500 troops in the South to protect it against its neighbour, which invaded in 1950.

Trump has repeatedly demanded Seoul pay more towards the cost of the US troop presence, and has hinted that it could be withdrawn.

Negotiations on another increase had started, he tweeted Thursday, only for Seoul to deny that was the case.

The North has fired four sets of projectiles in the last two weeks to demonstrate its anger over joint military exercises between the South and the US but Trump has played them down, raising concerns among some South Koreans that Washington is concerned primarily with its own security.