U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, meeting for first time, described admiration for each other, and pledged cooperation.

South Korea has long come under targeted criticism from Trump, who has called it a "money machine" that takes advantage of American military protection.

Trump elaborated later Monday that he was referring to raids on churches and on a U.S. military base by the new South Korean government, which they “probably shouldn't have done,” the president argued.