South Korean President Yoon Seokyeol is playing golf to prepare for upcoming meetings with Trump

South Korean President Yoon Seokyeol recently took up golf for the first time in eight years in preparation for upcoming meetings with the US President-elect Donald Trump.

This was reported in the presidentʼs office, Reuters reports.

Yoon Seokyeol hit the golf course on Saturday to play the sport, which he last played in 2016.

Analysts say the South Korean president may try to find a way to use his personal friendship with Trump to advance Seoulʼs interests amid the Republicanʼs "America First" foreign policy agenda and unpredictability in his leadership.

South Korean companies rely heavily on trade with the US, and during Trumpʼs first term, the countries clashed over sharing the cost of maintaining the roughly 28 500 US troops stationed in South Korea.

Officials in Seoul are working to prepare for major economic changes, with Trumpʼs proposed trade tariffs of particular concern.

• On November 5, the election of the 47th president of the country was held in the USA — the candidate from the Republican Party Donald Trump won. He already has 312 electoral votes out of the required 270. Meanwhile, Democrat Kamala Harris has 226 votes. This means that Trump actually won, but the Electoral College will make a formal decision on the election of the president on December 17, 2024, and the inauguration will take place on January 20, 2025.

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