I went from Washington, D.C., to New York. Scotland followed along. I returned to Washington, D.C.
This is the recent week's travel route of Kim Jeong-kwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Yeo Han-koo, head of the trade negotiations office, who departed to negotiate tariffs with the United States. The two visited the New York residence of Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, to conduct trade discussions.
As Minister Lutnick departed for Scotland accompanying U.S. President Donald Trump, they followed him to Scotland. This was to closely monitor Minister Lutnick, the U.S. negotiating counterpart, in order to protect national interests in the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations.
In response to this close monitoring, Deputy Minister Yeo Han-koo noted during a briefing with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy press corps on the 31st, "What struck me during the negotiations was 'If you are sincere, the heavens will respond,'" adding, "There was a passion to create a deal that benefits both countries."
Koo Yun-cheol, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, who was the chief representative for the Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, also said, "Minister Kim Jeong-kwan and Deputy Minister Yeo Han-koo directly went to Scotland and impressed Secretary Lutnick," and noted, "Seeing them in the U.S., it became clear that their roles were significant."
As part of this tariff negotiation, the U.S. reduced the tariff rate on Korea from 25% to 15%. In return, Korea promised an investment of $350 billion (approximately 487 trillion won) and the purchase of $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The market assessed that while some concessions were made to the U.S., securing the same tariff rate as Japan and the European Union (EU) meant avoiding the worst-case scenario.
To achieve this outcome, Deputy Minister Yeo met with Secretary Lutnick ten times and with Jamieson Greer, U.S. Trade Representative, six to seven times. Minister Kim and Deputy Minister Yeo, who departed on the 22nd-23rd, met with Secretary Lutnick in Washington, D.C.
On the 24th, Deputy Prime Minister Koo visited the U.S. and was scheduled to hold a '2+2 trade consultation' with Deputy Minister Yeo, Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and Representative Greer on the 25th, but it was canceled due to a unilateral notice from the U.S. At that time, interpretations emerged that the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations were in trouble.
The previously gloomy negotiation atmosphere changed as Minister Kim and Deputy Minister Yeo chased after President Trump to Scotland. The two boarded a flight to Scotland on the 27th after obtaining information that Secretary Lutnick was leaving for Scotland with President Trump.
A sense of surprise from Secretary Lutnick was also sensed regarding Korea's proactive negotiation enthusiasm. In a local media interview at that time, Secretary Lutnick said, "Koreans took a flight to Scotland to meet me and Representative Greer after dinner."
Subsequently, a schedule for the Korea-U.S. Treasury Secretary meeting was reset, and Deputy Prime Minister Koo departed on the 29th. He also advanced his departure schedule by an additional day from the original plan.
Immediately after arriving in the U.S. on the 29th, Deputy Prime Minister Koo met Secretary Lutnick for two hours at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 3 p.m. local time. The next day, a 3+2 negotiation continued for an hour from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. On our side, Deputy Prime Minister Koo, Minister Kim, and Deputy Minister Yeo attended, while Secretary Lutnick and Representative Greer represented the U.S.
Around 4:30 p.m. on the 30th, scenes of Deputy Prime Minister Koo and others entering the White House were captured by reporters. This signaled that the negotiations between the two countries had concluded. At 6:16 p.m. that day, President Donald Trump wrote on his social network service (SNS), "The U.S. has reached a perfect and complete trade agreement with Korea."