The lead investor in a South Korean aluminum company that has challenged Commerce Department penalties on certain exports from South Korea to the United States made a $2 million payment last year to President Trump’s holding company.
The payment by the parent company, Base Group, was revealed for the first time in Mr. Trump’s annual financial disclosure form released in late June.
The document offered only a cryptic explanation for the payment, stating that it was part of a “letter of intent” and a “nonrefundable development fee.” In statements to The New York Times, the company and the Trump family said the payment relates to a still-unannounced golf course project.
Base Group has spent nearly a decade courting the Trump family, exclusively selling Trump-branded wine in South Korea and, more recently, hosting Mr. Trump’s son Eric at its Seoul headquarters.
The topic at the February gathering, according to a company executive: ways to increase trade between South Korea and the United States.
The efforts by Base Group to build ties with Mr. Trump and his family come as its corporate affiliate, Korea Aluminium, has curbed exports to the United States after the Commerce Department concluded that a group of South Korean companies circumvented trade duties on Chinese-made aluminum.
