U.S. State Department Deputy Secretary Christopher Lando on the 14th (local time) assessed the release of a joint fact sheet (JFS) that documented the tariff and security negotiation results between Korea and the United States, saying it "has opened a new chapter in the U.S.-Korea alliance."
Deputy Secretary Lando stated accordingly at the Van Fleet Policy Forum, hosted jointly by the Atlantic Council and the Korea Society in Washington, D.C., that "yesterday, the two countries released a historic joint fact sheet in connection with President Donald Trump's state visit to Korea at the end of October."
Deputy Secretary Lando said, "It lays out joint priorities for the relationship going forward," introducing detailed items including rebuilding and expanding key industries, maintaining foreign exchange market stability, strengthening commercial cooperation, promoting reciprocal trade, protecting economic prosperity, modernizing the U.S.-Korea alliance, coordinating on issues on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and strengthening maritime and nuclear partnerships.
Regarding the Trump administration's "manufacturing revival" policy, he stressed that "Korea plays a central role in these efforts." Deputy Secretary Lando said, "We need Korean investment in major areas such as shipbuilding, energy, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technologies."
He added that "we need Korea's support to actually make these investments work and to send Korean experts to the United States on temporary visas who can teach American workers how to operate precision manufacturing facilities."
Regarding the "Georgia incident" in which more than 300 Koreans were arrested and detained in an immigration crackdown by U.S. authorities in September at the construction site of the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution joint battery plant in Georgia, he expressed the U.S. government's intent to prevent a recurrence. He said, "President Trump has a clear position on this," adding, "President Trump welcomes Koreans coming to the United States to train American workers in these high-precision fields."
He added, "We cannot ask for large investments in our economy while at the same time telling them not to send the people who will actually implement those investments to the United States."
In this regard, he explained that "we are establishing a Korea investment and trade desk at the U.S. Embassy in Korea and overhauling the U.S. visa system to create a new visa category that allows Korean experts to come to the United States in compliance with U.S. immigration law to train American workers for these jobs."
He also said, "The shipbuilding sector is a key industry for our national security, and we look to Korea for help in reviving the shipbuilding business," adding, "A sustainable, long-term alliance must be 'two-way,' and both sides must benefit."
Deputy Secretary Lando, regarding the U.S.-Korea alliance, emphasized that "the U.S.-Korea alliance and our extended deterrence commitment are ironclad." He went on to say, "We are developing our traditional security alliance with Korea into a more comprehensive partnership that is economically and industrially integrated."