This letter reports on a possible delayed impact of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the following east Asian summer monsoon precipitation. An analysis of weather station data shows significant correlations between the December NAO index and precipitation over Korea and China in the subsequent summer. It appears that the correlation may be related to a wave train pattern which originates from the North Atlantic. The east Asian branch of this wave train can affect large-scale circulation and the precipitation over east Asia in early summer. We also found a significant interdecadal change of this relationship, which is possibly linked to a climatological change of the east Asian jet stream.