President Dates Country Locations Highlights Dwight D. Eisenhower 01! December 2 -- 5, 1952 South Korea Seoul Visit to Korean combat zone. (Visit made as President - elect.) 02! June 18 -- 19, 1960 Taiwan Taipei State visit. Met with President Chiang Kai - shek 03! June 19 -- 20, 1960 South Korea Seoul Met with Prime Minister Heo Jeong. Addressed the National Assembly. Lyndon B. Johnson 04! October 31 -- November 2, 1966 Seoul, Suwon State visit. Met with President Park Chung - hee and Prime Minister Chung Il - kwon. Addressed National Assembly. Richard Nixon 05! February 21 -- 28, 1972 China Shanghai, Peking, Hangchow State Visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Gerald Ford 06! November 19 -- 22, 1974 Japan Tokyo, Kyoto State visit. Met with Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. 07! November 22 -- 23, 1974 South Korea Seoul Met with President Park Chung - hee. 08! December 1 -- 5, 1975 China Peking Official visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping Jimmy Carter 09! June 25 -- 29, 1979 Japan Tokyo, Shimoda State visit; met with Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira. Attended the 5th G7 summit. 10! June 29 -- July 1, 1979 South Korea Seoul State visit. Met with President Park Chung - hee and Prime Minister Choi Kyu - hah. 11! July 9 -- 10, 1980 Japan Tokyo Official visit; attended memorial services for former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira; met with Emperor Hirohito, President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser of Australia, Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of Thailand, and Premier Hua Guofeng of China. Ronald Reagan 12! November 9 -- 12, 1983 State visit; met with Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and addressed the National Diet. 13! November 12 -- 14, 1983 South Korea Seoul, Demilitarized Zone State visit. Met with President Chun Doo - hwan. Addressed the National Assembly and visited U.S. troops. 14! April 26 -- May 1, 1984 China Beijing, Xian, Shanghai State visit. Met with President Li Xiannian and Premier Zhao Ziyang. 15! May 2 -- 7, 1986 Japan Tokyo Attended the 12th G7 summit. George H.W. Bush 16! February 23 -- 25, 1989 Attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito. Met with Emperor Akihito, the kings of Belgium, Jordan and Spain, the presidents of Brazil, Egypt, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal and Zaire, and the prime ministers of Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey. 17! February 25 -- 27, 1989 China Beijing Met with President Yang Shangkun and Premier Li Peng. Also met with Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. 18! February 27, 1989 South Korea Seoul Official visit. Addressed the National Assembly. 19! January 5 -- 7, 1992 Met with President Roh Tae - woo and senior Korean officials. Also signed a science and technology agreement, addressed the Korean National Assembly, and visited U.S. military personnel. 20! January 7 -- 10, 1992 Japan Kyoto, Kashihara, Tokyo Met with Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and senior Japanese officials. Bill Clinton 21! July 6 -- 10, 1993 Tokyo Attended the 19th G7 summit. Met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. 22! July 10 -- 11, 1993 South Korea Seoul Met with President Kim Young - sam. Addressed the South Korean National Assembly. Visited U.S. military personnel. 23! April 15 -- 16, 1996 Cheju Island Met with President Kim Young - sam. Proposed four - nation peace talks. 24! April 16 -- 18, 1996 Japan Tokyo State visit. Issued joint statement on U.S. - Japanese security relations. Addressed the Diet and U.S. Navy personnel. 25! June 24 -- July 3, 1998 China Xi'an, Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Hong Kong State visit. Met with President Jiang Zemin. Visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. Delivered a speech at Peking University. 26! November 19 -- 20, 1998 Japan Tokyo Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. Addressed American Chamber of Commerce. 27! November 20 -- 22, 1998 South Korea Seoul, Osan Met with President Kim Dae - jung. Addressed U.S. military personnel. 28! June 8, 2000 Japan Tokyo Attended the funeral of former Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. 29! July 21 -- 23, 2000 Nago Attended the 26th G8 summit. George W. Bush 30! October 18 -- 21, 2001 China Shanghai Attended the APEC Summit. 31! February 16 -- 19, 2002 Japan Tokyo Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Addressed the Diet. 32! February 19 -- 21, 2002 South Korea Seoul, Dorasan, Osan Met with President Kim Dae - jung. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Addressed U.S. military personnel. 33! February 21 -- 22, 2002 China Beijing Met with President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji. 34! October 17 -- 18, 2003 Japan Tokyo Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. 35! November 15 -- 16, 2005 Kyoto Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi 36! November 16 -- 20, 2005 South Korea Pusan, Gyeongju, Osan Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Addressed U.S. military personnel. 37! November 20 -- 21, 2005 China Beijing Met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. 38! November 21, 2005 Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Met with President Nambaryn Enkhbayar and Prime Minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. 39! July 6 -- 9, 2008 Japan Tōyako Attended the 34th G8 summit. Met with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myung - bak. 40! August 5 -- 6, 2008 South Korea Seoul Met with President Lee Myung - bak. Addressed U.S. military personnel. 41! August 7 -- 11, 2008 China Beijing Attended the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. Met with President Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Barack Obama 42! November 13 -- 14, 2009 Japan Tokyo Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. 43! November 15 -- 18, 2009 China Shanghai, Beijing Met with Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng and Mayor Han Zheng; also took part in a town hall meeting with Shanghai students. Met with President Hu Jintao, NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. Visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. 44! November 18 -- 19, 2009 South Korea Seoul, Osan Met with President Lee Myung - bak. Visited with U.S. troops at Osan Air Base. 45! November 10 -- 12, 2010 Seoul Attended the G - 20 Summit. Met with President Lee Myung - bak. 46! November 12 -- 14, 2010 Japan Yokohama, Kamakura Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Prime Minister Naoto Kan. 47! March 25 -- 27, 2012 South Korea Seoul Attended the Nuclear Security Summit. Met with President Lee Myung - bak. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. 48! April 23 -- 25, 2014 Japan Tokyo Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. 49! April 25 -- 26, 2014 South Korea Seoul Met with President Park Geun - hye. Visited with U.S. troops at Yongsan Garrison. 50! November 10 -- 12, 2014 China Beijing Attended the APEC Summit. Met with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang. 51! May 25 -- 27, 2016 Japan Shima, Hiroshima Attended the 42nd G7 summit. Visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. 52! September 3 -- 6, 2016 China Hangzhou Attended the G - 20 Summit. Donald Trump 53! November 5 -- 7, 2017 Japan Tokyo Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. 54! November 7 -- 8, 2017 South Korea Seoul Met with President Moon Jae - in. Addressed the South Korean National Assembly. 55! November 8 -- 10, 2017 China Beijing Met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
who was the first us president to visit south korea
Dwight D. Eisenhower