By Joyce Lee and Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol recently took up golf for the first time in eight years in preparation for upcoming meetings with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Yoon’s office confirmed on Tuesday.

South Korean media said Yoon visited a golf course on Saturday for a sport his office said he last played in 2016.

“A lot of people close to President Trump … (told me) President Yoon and Trump will have good chemistry,” Yoon said at a news conference Thursday after congratulating Trump on his victory by phone.

Former Trump administration officials and influential Republicans have offered to help build ties with the incoming president, he added.

Analysts said Yoon may be looking to find a way to leverage a personal friendship with Trump to advance Seoul’s interests as Trump’s “America First” foreign policy plans and unpredictable style play out in his second term. mandate.

South Korean companies rely heavily on trade with the United States, and during Trump’s first term, the countries sparred over sharing the costs of the roughly 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the Korean War of 1950-1953.

Officials in Seoul have been working to prepare for significant economic changes, while Yoon on Sunday called for government and industry talks to prepare for Trump’s return.

Trump and Yoon’s similar personalities and foreign approaches may help them get along, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a specialist in Korean affairs at King’s College London.

“I also think that Yoon is generally well-liked by policymakers in the United States, which will help him, whoever is advising Trump on foreign policy,” he added.

Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation in Washington agreed that the two could develop a strong relationship, but warned that it might not be enough to spare South Korea from negative impacts.

“While many leaders will try to replicate the friendship that Shinzo Abe had with Trump, there is no evidence that the personal relationship has resulted in tangible and demonstrable benefits for Japan,” the former CIA analyst added, referring to the former assassinated Japanese prime minister.

Tokyo was treated the same as Seoul in the controversial military cost-sharing talks, he added.

(Reporting by Josh Smith and Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)