President Lee Jae Myung has received a key made of gold as a gift from US President Donald Trump, according to the presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik on Wednesday.
Lee's aide said in a Facebook post that Trump's gift was delivered via the newly appointed South Korean Ambassador to the United States, Kang Kyung-wha. He added that Lee was the fifth recipient of Trump's "Key to the White House."
According to the aide, Trump expressed his appreciation for Lee's "very precious gift" and wished to reciprocate, as he received the letter of credence from Ambassador Kang at a ceremony on Dec. 16, while musing, "I really like him."
It was the reference to Lee's gift of an Silla-era gold crown replica during his summit with Trump in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, coinciding with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in late October. That was when the two countries announced the deal on trade and security, encompassing the alliance modernization and South Korea's investment in US projects in return for a cut in new US tariffs on South Korean goods.
The presidential chief of staff wrote that Trump's gift "epitomizes the ironclad relationship between South Korea and the United States" in the post.
Before Lee, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Elon Musk and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Kang.
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