President Lee to Meet Trump Ally Greenberg; Possible Talks on South Korea-U.S. Tensions Draw Attention

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a pro-Trump Republican, also visits South Korea
Opportunity to strengthen ties with U.S. political and business circles
Intelligence-sharing discord amid implementation of U.S. strategic investments
Focus on w

President Lee Jaemyung will meet on the 15th with Evan Greenberg, chairman of the U.S.-Korea Business Council (USKBC), who previously served as a trade adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump. The meeting comes as South Korea and the United States begin implementing strategic investments in the U.S., and after recent discord between their intelligence agencies has come to light, drawing attention to its diplomatic implications. In particular, as prominent figures in U.S. political and business circles with ties to President Trump have visited South Korea one after another, attention is focused on whether the meetings will provide an opportunity for communication that can reduce uncertainty in South Korea-U.S. relations.

President Lee Jaemyung speaks at the Population Strategy Vision Proclamation Ceremony held at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 14, 2026. Yonhap News Agency

According to Cheong Wa Dae, President Lee is scheduled to meet with Chairman Greenberg at 4 p.m. that day at Cheong Wa Dae to discuss South Korea-U.S. trade relations and ways to expand economic cooperation. Greenberg is chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Chubb Group, the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurer, and has served as the ninth chairman of the U.S.-Korea Business Council since 2024.

Greenberg is a leading trade expert in the U.S. business community and has ties to President Trump. In 2018, during Trump's first term, he appointed Greenberg to the U.S. Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Greenberg continued to serve on the committee under the Joe Biden administration, remaining involved in U.S. foreign trade policy.

Greenberg drew particular attention in 2024, when Chubb Group provided an appeal bond after President Trump was ordered to pay substantial damages for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, who had accused him of sexual assault. At the time, Chubb subsidiary Federal Insurance Company underwrote a bond worth $91.6 million that Trump needed to appeal the ruling. Greenberg, however, rejected political interpretations, saying the decision was not an endorsement of any particular party but was made in the ordinary course of the surety bond business.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a prominent Republican figure, also attended the 36th Korea-U.S. Business Council meeting in Seoul that day. McCarthy, a pro-Trump Republican politician, served as House speaker in 2023 and left Congress later that year. During this visit to South Korea, he joined Chairman Greenberg in sharing insights into developments in U.S. politics and exchanging views on economic cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting is taking place as South Korea and the United States have entered the implementation phase of economic cooperation, while new sources of friction have emerged in the security sphere. On Oct. 1, the two countries selected a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant project in Texas as the first project under their strategic investments in the U.S. However, concerns about trust in the intelligence alliance have surfaced following reports that the United States had partially restricted intelligence sharing on North Korea and that South Korea's National Intelligence Service was excluded from a trilateral South Korea-U.S.-Japan consultative body.

It was confirmed that the United States restricted the sharing of some information related to North Korea's nuclear program after Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young's remarks in March about North Korean uranium enrichment facilities. The National Intelligence Service was also reportedly excluded from a working group meeting on responding to North Korean cyber threats held in Washington, D.C., in June. The controversy intensified after reports emerged that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had conveyed distrust of the National Intelligence Service to South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jungkwan.

The South Korean government maintains that the restrictions on intelligence sharing are limited to certain specific areas and that there are no problems with South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation overall. On Oct. 11, the National Intelligence Service said the total amount of intelligence on North Korea provided by the United States had not decreased, while the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the National Intelligence Service also denied reports that Secretary Lutnick had conveyed distrust of the agency. However, as controversy over intelligence cooperation continues, the need to reaffirm trust between the two countries is growing.

Against this backdrop, attention is focused on whether current issues surrounding South Korea-U.S. relations will be raised at the meeting, in addition to the official agenda of trade and investment cooperation. During the meeting, President Lee is expected to hear the results of the 36th council meeting, co-hosted by the U.S.-Korea Business Council under the Korea Economic Association and the Korea-U.S. Business Council under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and call on them to help expand investment and industrial cooperation between companies in the two countries.

From left, Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Wontae, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jungkwan, Korea Economic Association Chairman Ryu Jin, U.S.-Korea Business Council Chairman Evan Greenberg, and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel pose for a commemorative photo at the 36th Korea-U.S. Business Council meeting, held at the FKI Tower Conference Center in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 15th. 2026.10.15 Yonhap News Agency

Meanwhile, Greenberg has a special connection to South Korea. His father, former AIG Chairman Maurice Greenberg, served as the fourth chairman of the U.S.-Korea Business Council from 2003 to 2005. A Korean War veteran, he received the Ambassador for Peace Medal from the South Korean government in 2022 and a letter of appreciation from the president the following year. Father and son have thus contributed to South Korea-U.S. economic cooperation by serving as chairmen of the council in successive generations. Cheong Wa Dae plans to use the meeting to reaffirm the long-standing cooperative relationship between the two countries and further expand their economic cooperation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.