As U.S. President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae-myung reached a surprise agreement on a tariff negotiation through a summit on the 29th, U.S. Commerce Minister Howard Lutnick is offering a contradictory statement. The government, however, said, "Some interpretations may differ, but there is nothing to worry about."
Minister Lutnick announced the outcome of the South Korea-U.S. summit on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the 30th, writing that "Korea will open its market 100% to the United States." This runs counter to the explanation by Presidential Deputy Minister for Policy Kim Yong-beom, who said at a briefing the previous day that "we thoroughly defended against any additional market openings for sensitive items such as rice and beef." Kim stressed, "In the agriculture institutional sector, the agreement was limited to improving quarantine procedures."
Differences in the two countries' positions over semiconductor tariffs also emerged. The government said, "Korea's semiconductor tariff will be adjusted to a level 'not unfavorable compared with Taiwan,'" but Minister Lutnick drew a line, saying, "We agreed on a 15% reciprocal tariff for automobiles and other items, but semiconductor tariffs are not included in this agreement."
There were also differences over the investment structure for the $350 billion (about 490 trillion won) in financial investment in the United States, which had been a sticking point. The presidential office said the previous day, "The Investment Committee will be chaired by the U.S. commerce minister, and the Consultative Committee will be chaired by the Korean commerce minister, and projects will be selected and discussed through mutual consultations."
However, Minister Lutnick made clear that the final decision rests with President Trump, saying, "The investment will proceed under President Trump's direction and approval." As potential investment destinations, he mentioned projects such as the Alaska natural gas pipeline, energy infrastructure, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computers.
In response, the trade authorities drew a line, saying, "Some interpretations of the consultations may differ, but there is no change in the broad framework of the agreement." The government first emphasized, "Under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), 99.7% of the domestic market is already open," adding, "There are no items for which tariffs were further lowered or for which additional market openings were made this time."
Regarding semiconductor tariffs as well, they assessed that "semiconductor tariffs are highly likely to be adjusted immediately depending on the outcome of the U.S.-Taiwan negotiations, and for this reason it appears to have been declared that a tariff negotiation for the semiconductor institutional sector was not conducted."
They also said that while "it is true that the leadership of the investment funds lies with the United States," safeguards were put in place by limiting investment targets to "areas with commercial rationality" and by forming a consultative committee chaired by the industry and trade Minister.
Meanwhile, the government indirectly rebutted Lutnick's claims and stated that it would announce an MOU soon. In a statement released after Minister Lutnick's post on X, the presidential office said, "The announcement is based on the contents agreed upon by both sides, and the relevant documents are in final review."