The 25% tariff that U.S. President Donald Trump declared toward Korea on the 26th is hard to see as a simple card to resolve a trade deficit. Analysts say it is closer to a complex warning stemming from shaken foundations of diplomacy—security, trade, and a values-based alliance.
From right after his election, President Trump showed discomfort on his Truth Social, labeling the political situation in Korea as a "purge or revolution." This is interpreted as reflecting a perception that Korea's political and judicial situation at the time could run counter to the alliance values the United States prizes. It means he viewed the investigations of previous administration figures pushed by the Korean government and the sweeping personnel overhaul after the martial law crisis as essentially a purge removing pro-U.S. allies.
On the surface, trade imbalance was the banner, but for the year after Trump took office, distrust of the Korean government's overall course lay underneath. In Washington, the view is that points of friction long obscured under the name of alliance burst out at once as economic pressure in the form of tariffs.
① Search at Osan U.S. military base
The first incident to trigger Trump's displeasure was the controversy over the search and seizure at Osan U.S. military base in July 2025. At the time, the special counsel team currently investigating former President Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law case executed a search and seizure of the Master Control and Reporting Center (MCRC) inside Osan Air Base to secure evidence related to the Pyongyang drone incident. The search and seizure proceeded amid controversy over whether prior consultation had taken place in a joint U.S.-Korea zone that included U.S. military facilities.
After receiving reports that a Korean special counsel team had conducted an investigation connected to a U.S. base, President Trump reportedly raised strong concerns by referring to it. At the first U.S.-Korea summit in Aug. the month after the search and seizure, he bluntly asked President Lee Jae-myung to his face, "Was (the search) led by the deranged Jack Smith?" ramping up pressure. Jack Smith is the U.S. Department of Justice special counsel who led investigations against Trump under the Biden administration and became a public enemy in Republican circles.
The Korean special counsel at the time said the search was limited to materials and assets under Korean military control, and that there was no official objection from the U.S. side. But reports said the White House viewed the very attempt to investigate inside a U.S. military facility as an infringement on U.S. sovereignty and treated it sensitively from an alliance management standpoint. As a result, a current is detectable that interprets this as expanding into an issue of the status and trust of U.S. forces stationed in an ally.
② Online platform regulation targeting U.S. big tech
The public session of the summit appeared relatively friendly. President Lee Jae-myung praised the White House interior and Trump's peacekeeping efforts, even proposing to build a "Trump Tower" in North Korea. Trump responded, "The relationship is very good." But the mood cooled quickly right after the summit. The sticking point was online platform regulation (the on-plat bill). The on-plat bill contains measures to regulate the abuse of market dominance by large platforms.
Right after the summit, President Trump said he would "stand up to countries attacking U.S. technology corporations," and warned of retaliation, including restricting semiconductor exports, if discriminatory measures were not withdrawn. He also linked digital regulation issues to trade retaliation. Politico, citing a White House official, reported that Washington viewed Korea's platform regulation bill as a "litmus test" to stop global regulatory spread and that the warning effectively amounted to a "warning shot." The United States sought to insert language blocking the relevant bill into the summit joint statement, but it reportedly fell through due to Korea's refusal.
Senior White House officials regard Korea's attempts to check U.S. corporations like Google through the online platform regulation bill and secure sovereignty over its domestic market as a betrayal. Before the tariff declaration, James Heller, chargé d'affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Korea, sent a letter on the 13th to Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, urging implementation of a "ban on discrimination against U.S. digital corporations." In the process, Washington appears to have solidified the perception that Korea is not keeping pace with the United States on digital regulation.
③ The Coupang affair and suspicions of preferential treatment for “Chinese e-commerce”
The conflict surrounding Coupang is also cited as a factor worsening how U.S. political circles view Korea. The Korean government maintains that the Coupang matter is not a trade issue but enforcement under domestic laws and systems. But Washington reads it as an extension of "trade conflict," not "law enforcement." In the United States, there is a strong tendency to view Coupang as a corporation in the American capital market listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For that reason, when the Korean government and National Assembly moved to beef up investigations and sanctions targeting Coupang, Republicans led a wave of objections asking whether this was excessive law enforcement targeting a U.S. corporation.
On the 12th, Rep. Darrell Issa, a senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote on his X account right after meeting Yeo Han-koo, head of the Office of the Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, "I made clear that the Lee Jae-myung administration's targeting of U.S. technology corporations and unfair treatment of Coupang is unacceptable," adding, "There will be consequences for state-sponsored hostile actions targeting U.S. corporations and citizens."
Charlie Kirk, a leading "MAGA (Make America Great Again)" commentator and head of Turning Point USA, also posted online just before last year's U.S.-Korea summit that "the Korean government is targeting U.S. industry with regulation while giving Chinese corporations a free pass," adding that "only Trump can solve this." They share the perception that the Korean government is pushing U.S. corporations out of the market to make room for Chinese e-commerce firms like Ali and Temu. Politico reported that Kirk's post was briefed to President Trump before the summit.
④ Support for “one China”
Differences in views on diplomatic alignment are another factor fueling conflict. President Lee Jae-myung visited China at the very start of the new year in January. It was unusual in itself that, after behind-the-scenes work during the year-end period when diplomacy typically slows, a visit to China was scheduled for the beginning of the year.
During a state media CCTV interview on his visit to China, President Lee said, "There is no change in our position of respecting one China regarding the Taiwan issue." He also lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling him "a truly reliable neighbor." The "one China" support expressed amid intensifying U.S.-China strategic rivalry and rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait sparked debate in Washington over Korea's sense of diplomatic balance.
Victor Cha, a chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), wrote in a Foreign Affairs op-ed that "if Korea tilts too far toward managing relations with China, it could invite misunderstanding on the front of democratic alliances." Reports say some within the Trump administration also see Korea's China policy line as tied to a loss of trust in an security partner.
⑤ Controversy over persecution of religious freedom
The discourse of the U.S. conservative camp also carries weight. Newt Gingrich, Trump's political mentor and a leading figure in the U.S. conservative camp, used strong language on Fox News and in conservative media columns, saying Korea is "moving toward a pro-Chinese, communist dictatorship."
Mike Pompeo, the powerful secretary of state in Trump's first term, also voiced concern last September when the special counsel team currently investigating allegations involving Kim Keon-hee sought to summon and question Han Hak-ja, president of the Unification Church, saying, "The growing acts of infringing on freedom of religion betray the democratic principles that Korea should support." Incumbent Secretary of State Marco Rubio likewise disclosed last September a message Charlie Kirk sent from Korea before his death saying, "I saw many worrying things here," suggesting he was casting a skeptical eye on Korea's political situation.
Within the U.S. conservative camp, there is a strong tendency to interpret investigations into certain religious groups or statements by political figures as "infringements on religious freedom." Successive remarks by influential figures from politics and government have spread by combining issues of religious freedom and political values, helping reinforce negative perceptions of Korea among Trump supporters.
⑥ Spread of alleged election-fraud cartel
Recently, suspicions of a "global election-fraud cartel" have been added to the mix. Since losing the 2020 election, President Trump has consistently claimed election fraud, and at a recent press conference he said, "We obtained decisive evidence of election fraud from (Venezuela's) Maduro. We will root out the global election-fraud cartel," raising the intensity of his remarks by the day. At the same time, the election-fraud discourse once discussed mainly in MAGA circles has been spreading worldwide via Truth Social and other social media, and Korea is included in these suspicions. The National Election Commission (NEC) of Korea and the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) are alleged to be linked to global election manipulation. A-WEB is an international election support body established under the leadership of Korea's NEC with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Sidney Powell, a former member of Trump's legal team and a longtime close associate, also shared related posts on the 26th, claiming that "the shadow forces of the global election-rigging cartel are connected with Korea's NEC and A-WEB" and that "they carry out election fraud through exported electronic voting systems." In the process, attorney Powell tagged the official account of the U.S. Department of Justice and urged an in-depth investigation of Korea's NEC. In fact, in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Philippines, there have been precedents of raising issues over transparency in the management of electronic voting and electronic counting systems involving the NEC and A-WEB.
For now, these claims are more political allegations than verified facts, but President Trump has effectively signaled agreement by repeatedly posting related items directly on his Truth Social account recently.