US court ruling finds reciprocal tariffs unlawful… PM Kim: "We will watch the situation wisely"

With the US Supreme Court judging the Trump administration’s imposition of reciprocal tariffs to be unlawful—prompting some to raise the possibility of shifts in Korea-US trade negotiations—Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on the 21st, “We will move forward while watching the situation very wisely.”

Speaking that afternoon at the “K-National Administration Briefing Session” held in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Kim said, “We will discuss, amid various circumstances, issues such as whether we can reset all tariff negotiations to zero or whether we can change some conditions,” adding the remarks.

He added, “At the government level, we have not yet discussed this issue,” but noted, “For now, we will proceed while honoring what the two governments have agreed upon. However, given that we are facing a situation in which a legal issue in one country is being shaken, it may be that there has been a change in circumstances to the extent that, while keeping our promises, we can move forward while taking a more comprehensive view of the situation.”

He went on to assess that “Fundamentally, the tariff negotiations were not conducted solely on the basis of legal reasons between the US government, which operates under US law, and the Korean government, which operates under Korean law, but were political and economic negotiations reflecting the trade interests of both sides.”

Lee Seul-gi, Hankyung.com reporter seulkee@hankyung.com