Hours before Lee's first long-planned visit to the White House, Trump took to social media to criticize what he called a "Purge or Revolution" in South Korea, seemingly over raids involving churches.
During a 40-minute Oval Office meeting in which Lee praised Trump, the US President softened his earlier remarks, saying, "I'm sure it's a misunderstanding" as "there is a rumor going around."
Trump expressed confidence that he and Lee share similar views on North Korea. He recalled meeting Kim Jong Un three times during his first term and said he knows the North Korean leader "better than anybody, almost, other than his sister."
"Someday I'll see him. I look forward to seeing him. He was very good with me," Trump told reporters, adding that he hopes the meeting can happen this year.
Trump previously remarked that he and Kim "fell in love" during their encounters, which eased tensions but did not result in a lasting agreement.
But Kim has since been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, securing critical support from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight.
North Korea has dug in and refused any talk of ending its nuclear weapons program.
Trump Tower' in Pyongyang
Lee, a former labor rights lawyer who has criticized the US military in the past, immediately flattered his host and said Trump has made the United States "not a keeper of peace, but a maker of peace."
"I look forward to your meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un and construction of Trump Tower in North Korea and playing golf" there, Lee told him.
He even cited propaganda from North Korea that denounced South Korea by noting that Pyongyang said the relationship with Trump was better.
Kim "will be waiting for you," Lee told him.
In a speech after his meeting, Lee warned that North Korea could soon produce 10 to 20 nuclear weapons per year as well as a missile that can hit the United States -- despite pressure and sanctions.
"The hard fact is that the number of nuclear weapons that North Korea possesses has increased over the past three to four years," Lee said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He highlighted his overtures to the North such as stopping the blaring of anti-Kim messages over loudspeakers on the military frontier.
Lee was elected in June after the impeachment of the more hawkish Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office after briefly imposing martial law.
The raids denounced by Trump likely referred in part to investigations surrounding Yoon's conservative allies.
Seeking to buy base
Korean Air announced after the talks that it would buy more than 100 aircraft from US manufacturer Boeing, as Trump presses allies hard for business.
Trump, who frequently accuses European allies of freeloading off the United States, made clear he would seek greater compensation by South Korea over the 28,500 US troops in the country.
He suggested the United States could seek to take over base land, an idea likely to enrage Lee's brethren on the South Korean left.
"We spent a lot of money building a fort, and there was a contribution made by South Korea, but I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base," Trump said.
He also spoke bluntly about one of South Korea's most delicate issues: so-called "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery during Japan's 1910-1945 rule.
The South Korean left has historically been outspoken about Japan's legacy, although Lee visited Tokyo on his way to Washington, a highly symbolic stop praised by Trump.
Japan had agreed to compensate comfort women but the deal was criticized by survivors who questioned Tokyo's sincerity.
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