Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held follow-up consultations on South Korea-U.S. trade negotiations at the U.S. Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C., on the 16th (local time).
The two countries have shown differences over the specifics of a $350 billion investment package in the United States proposed by South Korea. As a result, they have not reached a final agreement since concluding negotiations on Jul. 30.
Minister Kim Jung-kwan visited the Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C., in the afternoon with Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom and Trade Negotiations Minister Yeo Han-koo of the Industry Ministry, and held about two hours of talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others.
After the meeting, Deputy Minister Kim Yong-beom met with reporters and said they "spoke sufficiently for two hours." Asked whether there had been progress, he avoided an answer, saying only, "We held a meeting for two hours."
It was the first time in two weeks since the 4th that Minister Kim met with Minister Lutnick.
It is not yet confirmed whether the two sides narrowed their differences over how to execute the $350 billion investment in the United States.
Attention is on whether, on the occasion of President Donald Trump's attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju at the end of this month, the leaders will sign the final agreement on the trade negotiations.
Earlier, Deputy Minister Kim Yong-beom, upon arriving at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., said, "Compared with until now, this is the period when the two countries are negotiating in the most serious and constructive atmosphere," adding, "We will do our best to bring the negotiations to a successful close in a way that helps the national interest."
Immediately after arriving, Minister Kim and Deputy Minister Kim visited the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a White House office facility, as their first engagement and held a meeting for about 50 minutes with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought to discuss ways to cooperate in shipbuilding between the two countries. Trade Negotiations Minister Yeo also accompanied them.
Regarding the agenda of the meeting with Director General Vought, Minister Kim said they were having various constructive discussions about "MASGA" (the South Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project).
Asked whether they discussed China's recent announcement of sanctions targeting five U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, a flagship company of MASGA, Minister Kim said, "Not to that extent, but we talked about which specific projects we will undertake (in relation to MASGA)."
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol, who attended the Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers and Central Bank governors' meeting in Washington, D.C., also met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lend support to the trade talks. Koo conveyed concerns that if the $350 billion U.S. investment is made upfront, a foreign exchange crisis could occur in Korea.
Koo said, "Because Secretary Bessent is the treasury secretary, he knows the Korean foreign exchange market precisely," adding, "It appears Secretary Bessent spoke internally with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. We asked (the U.S. government) to talk internally (about the situation in Korea's foreign exchange market), so we should say the understanding of that part has increased."
Koo added, "It's a good sign that (the U.S.) has a higher level of understanding of Korea's foreign exchange market," but also said, "There is real uncertainty as to whether President Trump will accept it."