South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference at the Presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Ahn Young-joon/Pool via REUTERS
South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung delivers a speech after taking his oath during his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 4, 2025. ANTHONY WALLACE/Pool via REUTERS

By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House said on Tuesday that South Korea's election, which saw liberal party candidate Lee Jae-myung win the presidency, was fair, but it expressed concern about Chinese interference.

"The US-ROK Alliance remains ironclad. While South Korea had a free and fair election, the United States remains concerned and opposed to Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world," a White House official said in an emailed response to a Reuters request for comment made at an earlier White House briefing.

"ROK" refers to the Republic of Korea.

The official did not elaborate on the reference to alleged Chinese interference or connect it directly to the South Korean election. However, U.S. President Donald Trump's right-wing allies have taken aim at Lee, who has spoken of the need to balance Seoul's relations with China and the United States.

Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has jockeyed her way up from online agitator to self-appointed Trump adviser, posted "RIP South Korea" on X on Tuesday after Lee's victory became clear.

"The communists have taken over Korea and won the Presidential election today," she wrote. "This is terrible," she added.

Loomer has shown herself to be highly influential: Several high-ranking White House officials were fired this year after she presented Trump with a list of national security staffers she perceived to be disloyal.

When asked about the White House comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing never interferes in other countries' internal affairs.

He advised Washington to not project its own actions onto Beijing and to "stop sowing troubles in China-South Korea relations".

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement congratulating Lee, and like the White House, spoke about the two countries' "ironclad" alliance. He made no mention of concerns about China.

"The United States and the Republic of Korea share an ironclad commitment to the Alliance grounded in our Mutual Defense Treaty, shared values, and deep economic ties," Rubio said. "We are also modernizing the Alliance to meet the demands of today’s strategic environment and address new economic challenges."

Rubio also said the United States would continue to deepen trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, "to bolster regional security, enhance economic resilience, and defend our shared democratic principles."

CHINA POLICIES UNDER SCRUTINY

As South Korea's ousted former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, fought for his political life earlier this year, he raised unsubstantiated claims about possible fraud in South Korea's elections as one reason for his announcement of a martial law decree that had prompted his ouster.

His backers adopted "Stop the Steal" slogans and expressed hopes that Trump would intervene to help, but that never came.

"Most of the 'election fraud' allegations I've seen reek of conspiracy theories and paranoia," said Evans Revere, former U.S. Deputy Ambassador for East Asian Affairs.

"It's unfortunate that a White House spokesperson would allude to these, especially since Lee's margin of victory was substantial and his conservative opponent quickly and unhesitatingly conceded his loss."

Last week, without providing evidence, Trump ally Mike Flynn, a retired general who briefly served as the president's national security adviser during his first term, referred in a post on X to "signs of fraud" in the South Korea election, and said a fraudulent outcome would only benefit the Chinese Communist Party.

Another Trump ally, Steve Bannon, explored a similar theme of Chinese election interference on his WarRoom channel last week.

Lee's past comments about China, including his statement that a conflict over Taiwan would have nothing to do with South Korea, have provided fodder for those in the U.S. government inclined to mistrust him, said Revere.

His policy approach on China, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, and alliance- and trade-related concerns will be under close scrutiny in Washington and could lead to "differences" between the two allies, he added.

"In that context, the White House spokesperson's comments could have been intended as a cautionary message to Korea's new president."

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Seoul and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Leslie Adler and Saad Sayeed)