South Korean president Lee Jae Myung joked that he avoided a “Zelenskyy moment” during his first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last August. There was much to celebrate at the long-delayed summit: An agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on its sixth-largest trading partner from 25% to 15%, and alignment on the two allies’ security policies towards North Korea.

But—as is now common under the Trump administration—those good feelings quickly soured. A brewing crisis now threatens the 72-year-old alliance and South Korea’s hosting of the APEC Summit at the end of this month.

The first sign of trouble was the lack of a joint statement at the Lee-Trump summit on August 25. That worried me, given my own experience managing U.S. alliances in Asia: These statements, often produced afte

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