WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was seeking information from South Korea about investigations in that country that he said targeted churches and a military base.
“Police probably shouldn’t have done that, but I heard bad things. I don’t know if it’s true or not,” Trump told reporters just before he was due to meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House. “I’ll be finding out.”
Trump said he had heard “there were raids on churches over the last few days. Very vicious raids on churches by the new government in South Korea,” and added that “they even went into our military base and got information.”
Earlier this month, Seoul police raided Sarang Jeil Church, headed by evangelical preacher Jun Kwang-hoon, who led protests in support of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Yonhap News Agency said.
The police were investigating pro-Yoon activists who stormed a court in late January after it extended the detention of Yoon.
In July, special prosecutors investigating Yoon’s declaration of martial law served a search warrant on the Korean part of a military base jointly operated with the United States. South Korean media said the search was conducted with the permission of the South Korean military but without coordination with the U.S. authorities.
Earlier on Monday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there. I am seeing the new President today at the White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brujnnstrom in washington and Josh Smith, Park Ju-min and Jin Hyun Joo in SeoulEditing by Rod Nickel)
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