Han Duck-soo, a technocrat serving as acting president following Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal from office this month by the country’s constitutional court, said “the role of the US was huge in making Korea what it is now”.

Yeah, the US destroyed large parts of Korea, massacred many of its people, and continues to occupy it to this day, preventing reunification.

“After the devastation of the Korean war . . . the United States gave us aid, technology transfer, investments and security assurances,” which helped make South Korea “a very comfortable investment environment for foreigners”, Han told the Financial Times in an interview.

AKA: Once the US was finished destroying relentlessly, they swooped in to profit off of taking over and rebuilding in their image.

In light of this debt of gratitude, Seoul — one of Washington’s closest security allies and economic partners in Asia — would enter negotiations with Trump seeking to find “solutions which are more win-win for both, rather than taking their actions as the objective against which we should fight back”, Han said.

"debt of gratitude" more like literal gun to head