A week after Donald Trump’s return to the White House was confirmed, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun playing golf in preparation for future diplomatic meetings.
Yoon and Trump have yet to hold the highest political offices in their countries at the same time.
Trump left office in January 2021 after being defeated by Joe Biden in his first re-election bid. Yoon took office in 2022.
When Trump returns to the Oval Office in January, Yoon is trying to outdo other world leaders to get time with one of his critical international allies.
Yoon “recently started golfing again for the first time in eight years, in preparation for “golf diplomacy” with President-elect Trump,” according to CNN, by “following the advice of those around him.”
Trump is an avid golfer and has spent a lot of time in the Oval Office on his courses.
Yoon has returned to playing golf in preparation for Trump’s return to the White House.
Trump played golf with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe several times during his first term. Abe was assassinated in 2022.
During his first public comments after taking back the White House, one of the people Trump recognized was golfer Bryson DeChambeau, with whom he had been playing golf before.
Yoon knows that Trump was friendlier than most other world leaders to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that hostilities continue between the countries.
One of the main tasks for Trump’s return to the White House is to restrict American foreign policy with multiple wars in other countries.
No foreign leader has met in person with Trump since he secured his return to the White House.
Yoon’s trips to the golf courses are a unique way he hopes to stay on Trump’s good side.