Trump tried to flex by asking a reporter about the population of Seoul. Then he got it wrong by 28 million.

Jake Lahut

March 31, 2020 12:15 AM

To evade a reporter's question on the United States' coronavirus testing capabilities, President Donald Trump tried to flex with a fun fact.

south korea

"I know South Korea better than anybody," Trump said when responding to the question from PBS NewsHour's Yamiche Alcindor. "It's a very tight do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is? 38 million people. That's bigger than anything we have."
Seoul-proper officially known as the Seoul Special City has a population of around 10 million , according to the city government's English language website.
The greater metropolitan area clocks in at around 25 million, still far from Trump's estimate of 38 million which is actually around the estimated population of the Greater Tokyo Area.
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President Donald Trump ended up being off by 28 million people in his estimate of the population of Seoul, South Korea, during a White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing on Monday.

When asked about the United States' COVID-19 testing capabilities by Yamiche Alcindor of PBS NewsHour, Trump deflected by asking the reporter about the South Korean capital city's population.

"I know South Korea better than anybody," Trump said. "It's a very tight do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is? 38 million people. That's bigger than anything we have."

Seoul-proper or the Seoul Special City, as it's officially known only has a population of 10 million, according to the city government's English language website .

The greater metropolitan area is the second-largest in the world at around 25 million.

The Greater Tokyo Area, which has the largest, is approximately 38 million.

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