South Korea's Lee says his staff feared Trump's church comments would be 'Zelenskyy moment'

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said his staff feared that President Trump would ambush him about his government’s raids on churches and turn his Oval Office meeting into a “Zelenskyy moment,” describing Mr. Trump’s comments as “very threatening.”

Before Mr. Lee’s arrival at the White House on Monday, Mr. Trump raised questions about South Korea’s investigation into its former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, which has ensnared several churches in the country. The U.S. president vowed to press his South Korean counterpart on the issue.

“What is going on in South Korea? Seems like a purge or revolution. We can’t have that and do business there,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.

Mr. Trump later told reporters that he heard “bad things” from U.S. intelligence about what he described as “very vicious” church raids and that he would get to the bottom of it with Mr. Lee.

That touched off fears among South Korean officials, including Mr. Lee’s staff, that his Oval Office meeting would be a repeat of the tense and acrimonious meeting in February between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which degenerated into a shouting match.

“Before I met with President Trump, he posted on Truth Social a very threatening post, which I felt,” Mr. Lee said late Monday at an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“And then during the press gaggle, he mentioned about the Korean government’s investigations regarding the previous government and he mentioned that he would look into the search and seizure of U.S. bases. And so my staff was worried that we might face a Zelenskyy moment,” Mr. Lee said.

The South Korean president said he believed Mr. Trump’s comments were a negotiating technique. Both leaders continued to hammer out a trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea.

“This was the pattern that I observed in his previous negotiations with other countries. And because of the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance, I was confident that he would not inflict a wound to our alliance,” Mr. Lee said.

He said that his private conversation with Mr. Trump was focused on strengthening economic ties between the two nations and how to “modernize” the U.S.-South Korea security agreement. He did not say if the raids on churches were discussed.

South Korea’s former president, Mr. Yoon, a conservative, was removed from office in April. He was arrested in July over his brief imposition of martial law in December. The investigation into Mr. Yoon’s activities led South Korean officials to probe Osan Air Base, a military facility that operates jointly with the U.S.

Speaking Monday at the White House, Mr. Lee said authorities had not conducted a search and seizure. Instead, he said it was an investigation into his country’s military chain of command following Mr. Yoon’s declaration of martial law.

Osan was the target of a raid last month by investigators looking into how Mr. Yoon’s activation of martial law came about, according to South Korean media. South Korean officials have insisted the raid was in the areas controlled by Seoul.

The investigations by Mr. Lee’s liberal government into Mr. Yoon and his wife, former first lady Kim Keon-hee, have expanded to include churches with ties to the couple. They are the first former presidential couple to be jailed simultaneously over criminal allegations in South Korea.

Seoul police this month raided Sarang Jeil Church, headed by evangelical preacher Jun Kwang-hoon, who led protests in support of Mr. Yoon. The raid was spurred by a police investigation into pro-Yoon activists who stormed a court in late January after it extended Mr. Yoon’s detention.

A bribery probe into Ms. Kim has also entangled the Family Federation, formerly known as the Unification Church. The Federation is accused of offering bribes to the former first lady before Mr. Yoon’s inauguration in exchange for political favors.

A former Federation official is alleged to have sent gifts worth more than $14,000, including a Chanel handbag and fancy jewelry, to Ms. Kim, according to South Korean media reports. In exchange, the official wanted Mr. Yoon’s government to support a development project in Cambodia, the acquisition of a South Korean news channel and an invitation to Mr. Yoon’s inauguration.

A Federation spokesperson earlier this year denied the allegations and said it was cooperating with the government probes.

The Federation has several business and media interests, including The Washington Times.

Last month, the Full Gospel Church in Yeouido, Seoul, was raided by special prosecutors investigating suspicions that its pastor had connections to figures associated with the alleged cover-up of the accidental death of a Marine in 2023.

• Washington Times Asia Editor Andrew Salmon contributed to this report.