Now that former President Donald Trump has won the US presidential election, should President Yoon Suk Yeol practice golf and get used to hamburgers? By indulging in Trump’s favorites, can President Yoon win the US leader's heart and build a bromance with him for the sake of South Korea’s national interests? Unfortunately, these seemingly playful questions have become a serious topic lately in Seoul’s political and diplomatic circles. That is because as the most powerful leader in the free world, Trump can either help or hurt Korea in the most powerful ways. Korea’s security, trade and perhaps entire future very much depends on this man across the Pacific.

US presidents have always been important for Korea. And in critical issues of security and economy, US policies have been generally predictable. Depending on which party holds power, Korea could prepare relatively well for a power change in Washington. But the first Trump presidency from 2017 to 2021 was anything but predictable. Like a loose cannon, he introduced many surprising, impulsive and unconventional policies that disrupted the existing world order and shook the global security and economic landscape. He downplayed the value of alliances and sometimes heaped praises on opponents. His love for strongmen, which at times led to bromances, was a particular shock.

The list of Trump’s bromances, especially with strongmen, is quite long. During the recent campaign, he said he had “fallen in love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “I think he misses me,” Trump said of Kim, a tyrant oppressing his population of 25 million with absolute terror. Trump once said he can solve the thorny problem of North’s nuclear weapons development by having hamburgers with Kim. In fact, Trump was the first and only US president who ever met a North Korean leader. Although their two summit meetings failed in the end, Trump still boasts his personal rapport with Kim.

Another notable strongman with whom Trump has a certain bromance is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Having called Putin “a genius,” Trump insists that he can end the war in Ukraine in a day using his personal relations with the Russian leader. As a former businessman who boasts of his negotiation skills, Trump believes he can be an efficient broker between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His view of diplomacy is nothing but the give-and-take of business transactions.

There are many other authoritarian leaders Trump is fond of. He often praises Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his populist anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Argentine President Javier Milei is another Trump favorite. Milei’s libertarian ideology of an unregulated market economy, among others, is exactly what Trump hopes to pursue during his second term. There is also Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, another tyrant accused of masterminding the murder of a dissident journalist, who has amicable relations with Trump.

One doesn’t have to be an autocrat to win the Trump's heart. His latest bromance is of course with Tesla founder Elon Musk. Having thrown full support behind Trump’s successful campaign, Musk has now become Trump’s “First Buddy,” who has almost dictated the formation of the president-elect’s new cabinet. After the election, Musk spent a few days with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, greatly influencing Trump’s policies. Trump’s reward for Musk’s help is to name him head of the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency that is going to ax federal government jobs and budgets to cut costs -- a project the two hatched together during the campaign.

For Korea’s President Yoon, however, there is another bromance he needs to study to become friends with Trump. Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is known as one of very few western leaders to have enjoyed a Trump bromance. But it didn’t come easily for the late Abe. He made tremendous efforts to win the US leader's trust from the day Trump was elected in 2016. Fully acknowledging the importance of the US and its president for the security and economy of Japan, he visited President-elect Trump in New York even before his inauguration to the ire of the outgoing Democratic US administration. Once Trump was president, Abe was the first foreign leader he invited to Washington to meet with him.

Abe didn’t just meet Trump. He studied every aspect of the president meticulously to forge long-lasting chemistry with him. Knowing that Trump is a golf addict, Abe presented him with a set of gold-plated golf clubs. In return, Trump invited Abe to his Florida golf course for a near full-day rounding. Among their meals were of course the hamburgers Trump enjoys most. When the new Japanese Emperor Naruhito was enthroned in 2019, Trump was invited by Abe and given the full red-carpet treatment. Together, they watched a Sumo wrestling match as good friends would do.

Thanks partly to the bromance, the Trump administration’s policy toward Japan was generally favorable. While Trump doubted and even detested US alliances with some European countries, Japan was largely spared such troubles. In the decadesold case of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese citizens, Trump continued to support Japan’s position, demanding action from the North. Abe’s vision of an Indo-Pacific security partnership was implemented as an official policy by Trump who viewed it as an efficient way to check China’s rise.

President Yoon might be able to forge some degree of friendship, if not a bromance, with Trump if he works as hard as Abe did. There are some potential opportunities. When Yoon visited Washington last year for a summit meeting with President Biden, he impressed his host by singing the famous pop song "American Pie" at a White House dinner. Yoon’s personal gesture was positively accepted by Biden. With the more precarious and unpredictable Trump, Yoon may have to muster some more dramatic and touching gestures, including eating hamburgers and playing golf.

Lee Byung-jong

Lee Byung-jong is a former Seoul correspondent for Newsweek, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News. He is a professor at the School of Global Service at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.