When Donald Trump arrived in South Korea on Wednesday as part of his six-day tour of Asia, he was treated like royalty.
Like other political and business leaders around the world, South Korean President Lee Jae-myunglooked to lavish the U.S. President with a gift, a thinly veiled attempt to get to his heart. While some, like Japan’s Prime Minister who met Trump on Tuesday, have lavished him with golf clubs, and others have flattered him with honorary medals and trophies, Lee presented the man who earlier this year proclaimed himself “king” on a fake TIME magazine cover with a gold crown.
Lee gave Trump a specially gilded replica of an ancient Korean kingdom crown in a ceremony at Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju. The original crown, which is more than 1,000 years old, was excavated from Cheonmachong tomb in the 1970s and is considered a national treasure. A South Korean official explained to Trump that it “symbolizes the divine connection between the authority of the heavens and sovereignty on earth, as well as the strong leadership and authority of a leader.” The official added that Lee was gifting him the crown to commemorate his state visit and in recognition of a “golden age of the Korea-U.S. alliance.”
