'Urgent US-Korea Negotiations'... Office of the President Convenes Trade Countermeasure Meeting

On the 25th, ahead of the mutual tariff imposition with the United States on the 1st of next month, the Office of the President will hold a trade countermeasure meeting. The meeting appears to have been convened to seek solutions amid the urgent developments in US-Korea trade negotiations.

Lee Kyu-yeon, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Office of the President, announced, “Today in the afternoon, a trade countermeasure meeting is scheduled to take place, presided over by Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik.” Attending the meeting will be Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom, National Security Secretary Wi Sung-rak, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol, and Minister for Government Policy Coordination Yoon Chang-ryul. It is expected that the meeting will center on reviewing the overall status of the tariff negotiations, based on Secretary Wi’s recent business trip to the United States, and discussing countermeasures.

Previously, Secretary Wi visited the United States and held tariff negotiations together with Yeo Han-koo, Trade Negotiations Head, Ward Lutnick, US Secretary of Commerce, Jamieson Greer, USTR representative, Andy Baker, National Security Advisor to the Vice President, and Allison Hooker, US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Secretary Wi returned to Korea on the 24th, and at Incheon International Airport, told reporters, “The negotiations between Korea and the United States are at the final stage, now at a very critical juncture.” In the United States, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Kim Jung-kwan and Trade Negotiations Head Yeo Han-koo are conducting negotiations with Ward Lutnick, US Secretary of Commerce.

The United States is pressuring Korea by repeatedly mentioning the outcome of negotiations with Japan. US President Donald Trump told reporters on the 24th, “Japan essentially lowered its tariffs by paying money.” In return for the United States lowering its mutual tariffs on Japan from 25% to 15%, Japan agreed to establish an investment fund worth $550 billion for the US. Secretary Lutnick also said in an interview with CNBC, “While reading the agreement with Japan, I could hear expletives coming from Korea,” adding, “It’s because Korea and Japan are closely watching each other.”

Reporter Kim Hyung-kyu khk@hankyung.com