South Korea’s president has taken up playing golf in anticipation of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has been practicing the sport so he can play with the president-elect after he takes office, officials told Korean media.
Yoon has been advised to improve his golf game so he can “strengthen his rapport” with Trump, the Korea Times reported.
The South Korean leader told a press conference at the weekend he was keen to arrange a meeting with Trump “as soon as possible to build rapport and build discussions.”
“A lot of people close to President Trump…[told me] President Yoon and Trump will have good chemistry,” Yoon said.
It marks the first time Yoon has picked up a golf club in years, the paper reported.
The move may have been inspired by Trump’s relationship with the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who bonded with the Republican on the course during his first term. Japan’s longest-serving leader, who was assassinated in 2022, also gifted Trump a $3,755 golf club in 2016.
However, Yoon will have to get in line behind Elon Musk, who has been spending a significant amount of time at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the election and joined him and granddaughter Kai on the golf course at the weekend.
Kai, a 17-year-old aspiring golfer, joked that the billionaire, 53, was now part of the family as he joined the group with his four-year-old son.
“Elon achieving uncle status,” she posted alongside a photo of the Tesla CEO and his son, X, who playfully held a golf ball over his eye in the shot. Musk shares his son with musician Grimes.
Kai previously said that she plays with her grandfather “often,” revealing that he tries to “get in my head” while they compete.
“One time I was not on his team and I had to make this eight-foot birdie putt to win and he’s trying to get in my head like standing right over me, standing next to me,” she recalled.
“I sunk it and l looked up and go like this [fist pumping] and he started smiling. That was the best moment.”
She added: “When I made that putt, even though he lost, he was so happy and smiling and laughing. That was a pretty special moment, too.”
