South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung arrived at the White House for what could have been a tense bilateral.

But it turned out to be a meeting where he heaped praise on Donald Trump, and received a similar treatment from the US president.

A social media post shared by Trump earlier today, which questioned South Korea's political stability, could have set the tone for the bilateral, but it was barely discussed in front of the world's media.

Instead, the leaders focused on deepening economic ties and working together to bring peace to the Korean peninsula. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was mentioned repeatedly, with Trump saying he has a great relationship with the dictator.

We are now ending our live coverage, but you read more at the links below:

• How one man threw South Korea into a political crisis
• Who is Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's impeached president?
• Wife of South Korea's ex-president arrested

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Former president Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office earlier this year after a panel of judges upheld his impeachment, which came after his short-lived martial law attempt last December.

Yoon justified his extraordinary martial law order last year by accusing the opposition of "trying to throw overthrow the free democracy".

But it soon became clear that he was motivated by his own political troubles.

Plagued with personal scandals and mounting pressure from the opposition, Yoon's popularity had been falling since he took office in 2022.

Much of the scandal surrounding Yoon's presidency centred around his wife Kim Keon Hee, who is accused of corruption and influence peddling - including allegations of accepting a Dior bag from a pastor.

Read more about former president Yoon's short presidency here.

All smiles as President Lee avoids an Oval Office surprisepublished at 19:30 British Summer Time 25 August

19:30 BST 25 August

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

One never quite knows what will happen when a foreign leader steps into the Oval Office.

As Volodomyr Zelensky and Cyril Ramaphosa found out earlier this year, many leaders coming here will wonder whether tense discussions and arguments that previously took place behind closed doors will instead take place in front of the world's cameras.

President Lee escaped that fate today, ending the public portion of his encounter with President Trump on a positive note, with both men lavishing praise on each other and on US-South Korean economic and security ties.

South Korean concerns about the meeting were not unfounded, given Trump's earlier posts about South Korean domestic issues and the investigation into former President Yoon and his allies.

But that post, and his earlier comments about raids on South Korean churches, appear to have been, in Trump's words, little more than an attempt to get to the bottom of what he termed a potential "misunderstanding" and "rumours" that could be clarified later on.

Ahead of the meeting, there had been some suggestion from members of South Korea's cabinet that the post had been a negotiating tactic.

But we will have to wait and see what - if any - concrete agreements come out of today's meeting to know whether that was the case.

Image source, Getty Images

We have just heard from Trump and Lee at the start of their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office.

The media has now been ushered out of the room and the leaders will continue their discussions. Here's what we heard:

• Trump says he wants the US to own the land where an American military base in South Korea is located
• He says he has a good relation with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that in the "appropriate future" they will meet in person
• The pair also discussed their trade relationship, with Trump saying the US and South Korea need each other
• Earlier this morning, Trump said he was concerned about reports of raids on churches in South Korea
• In the Oval Office, Lee says investigations of South Korean units located in a US base were related to an ongoing political crisis after the prior president was impeached
• Lee says they can discuss the matter in private

Jake Kwon
Reporting from Seoul

President Lee had to side step very carefully earlier, when President Trump was asked about his social media post today about raids on churches.

Lee explained how South Korea got to today after the failed martial law.

"We didn't directly investigate the US base, we investigated the South Korea unit within the base. I will explain it to you more in detail later," he told Trump.

It's really stunning to see Trump bring a very serious allegation against South Korean government in a social media post. Then several hours later brush it off with "I'm sure this was just a misunderstanding".

Earlier, as he sat with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Trump spoke about his "very good" relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

He gets along "really well" with him, he says.

He adds: "I hope it stays that way" and says he speaks to Kim a lot.

He says they talk "about things that we probably aren't supposed to talk about".

"I think he has a country of great potential."

Jake Kwon
Reporting from Seoul

The Korean delegation is probably letting out a great sigh of relief as the public part of the meeting wraps.

Hours ago, they must have wondered if they were walking into a minefield, or possibly a trap, after the US president on social media suggested South Korea was politically unstable ahead of the meeting.

Journalists have now been ushered out of the Oval Office. Trump and Lee will now continue their discussions in private.

As mentioned earlier, the two leaders are also expected to have lunch after their meeting.

A journalist presses Trump over social media comments he made earlier today, where he accused South Korea of conducting church raids and doing "bad things".

Trump says he was told by "intel" that there were raids, and adds that it "didn't sound like South Korea".

He turns to Lee and asks him if he wants to address the issue.

Lee explains that it hasn't been long since the former president imposed martial law, which sparked a political crisis.

He says a special counsel team is now "conducting a fact-finding" investigation into the matter.

Lee says he is happy to share information with Trump.

Trump responds that he is sure they will "work it out".

Jake Kwon
Reporting from Seoul

Image source, Reuters

Trump boasting his great relationship with Kim Jong-un. This is a frequent theme from Trump.

However, it has been reported that North Korea has been rejecting Washington's effort at reaching out to Pyongyang.

We also have not heard a peep from Pyongyang on Trump at least as far back as Trump's return to the White House.

Now Trump is talking about the trade deal with South Korea, saying that the two countries "need each other".

He talks about the mutual "love" the countries have for each other.

"We love what they do, we love their product, we love their ships, we love a lot of the things they make," he says.

Trump continues to say South Korea needs oil and gas, and the US will be trading it with them.

Trump says the US has more than 40,000 troops in South Korea. He says the countries have a very good military relationship.

He says one of the things he would like to see is for South Korea to give the US ownership of land where the US has built "a massive military base".

Jake Kwon
Reporting from Seoul

Image source, Reuters

Here comes a sensitive topic for Lee: potential drawdown of US forces in Korea.

Trump sidesteps the question. And he returns to the familiar theme: South Korea has not been contributing enough to the US for its protection of the peninsula.

A reporter asks Trump when he might meet North Korean President Kim Jong-un.

Trump says he wants to have a meeting and recollects the last time he met the leader, in 2019.

He says he will meet Kim "in the appropriate future".

Jake Kwon
Reporting from Seoul

Image source, Reuters

Lee is certainly saying all the right things. Calling Trump a peacemaker, praising his gold decoration of the Oval Office, and the performance of the US stock market.

On the Oval Office, he says: "It's bright and shining in gold, it looks great."

"It appears you are Making America Great Again seeing the historic performance of Dow Jones." he adds.

These are points that Trump is widely known to value.

It's a consistent strategy used by Korea's former leaders. Lee's predecessor Moon Jae-in, who served during Trump's first term, also opened his first remark to Trump congratulating him on "making America great again".

Lee Jae Myung is a very experienced politician who is adept at making off-the-cuff remarks. Quick on his feet, he consistently performed very well in election debates. He is a skilled orator.

Lee is flattering Trump on engaging North Korea. A large part of his support base believe South Korea must achieve unification with the North through peace and dialogue. It is one of his main agenda items to restart the talks with Kim.

President Lee has been congratulating Trump on his ability to "make peace", referencing his efforts to put a stop to the war in the Ukraine, which has so far been unsuccessful.

Lee says he wants peace in the Korean peninsula. He says he looks forward to Trump meeting North Korean President Kim Jong Un, and jokes that he looks forward to seeing Trump construct a Trump Tower in the country.

Trump responds by saying he and Kim Jong Un have a very good relationship.

He goes on to say that previous South Korean leaders weren't approaching their neighbour "appropriately".

Trump returns the compliments and says Lee has been doing a "much better" job than his predecessors.

President Lee continues to praise Trump.

He notes that the Dow Jones Index recently reached a "record high", saying that it shows the US is "becoming great again" - playing on trump's catchphrase.

Lee goes on to say that there is a "renaissance" taking place in the US, not only in the shipbuilding industry but also in the manufacturing industry.

"I hope Korea can be part of that renaissance," he says.

President Lee thanks Trump and compliments him for the redecoration of the Oval Office.

He says, through an interpreter, the Oval office looks "bright and beautiful and it has the dignity of America".

Image source, Reuters

Trump congratulates South Korea on its recent presidential election.

We are with you 100%, he adds.

Trump turns to the topic of military equipment, saying that they will talk with South Korea about purchasing US equipment.

He says that America has the "best" in the world.