South Korea’s president has picked up his golf clubs for the first time in eight years to impress Donald Trump in any future meeting.

Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said the president decided to practise his swing over the weekend as he seeks to work out how to “build a rapport” with a famously golf-obsessed US president-elect.

Analysts suggested the preparation for golf diplomacy was inspired by Shinzo Abe, the late Japanese prime minister whose close relationship with Mr Trump is said to have been achieved through several rounds of the game.

The soon to be 47th US president played at least 260 rounds of golf over the course of his first term – or a round every 5.6 days, The Washington Post estimated in 2021.