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Korea to expedite trade negotiations with U.S.: New trade minister

Published: 12 Jun. 2025, 12:26 Updated: 12 Jun. 2025, 14:36

Yeo Han-koo, Korea’s new minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, delivers his inaugural speech during a ceremony attended by employees at the Government Complex Sejong on June 12. [MINISTRY OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ENERGY]

Korea will expedite the ongoing trade negotiations with the United States with the new government in place, the new trade minister said Thursday, as Seoul has less than a month to make a deal with Washington before the temporary pause of U.S. reciprocal tariffs ends.

"As the country now has a new government that has democratic legitimacy and a clear mandate, we will expedite the 'shuttle negotiations' with the United States at the trade minister level," Yeo Han-koo, Korea's new trade minister, said in his appointment address.

"Through this process, the government will create a new structural framework for mutually beneficial Korea-U.S. cooperation in industry, trade and investment over the next five years."

Yeo added that he will work to achieve a "pragmatic" and "national interest-oriented" outcome in trade talks with the United States with the aim of expanding cooperation between the two countries in advanced technologies, such as the AI and digital realms, boosting the global competitiveness of Korean industries and fostering new growth engines for the economy.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will first establish an all-out response system for trade negotiations with the United States, expanding the existing task force on the matter to comprehensively cover trade, industry and energy issues, he explained.

"In addition, the chief of the working-level representatives on our side will be elevated from the current director level to the first-tier senior level," he noted."As much as Korea needs the United States, the United States also needs Korea."

"As much as Korea needs the United States, the United States also needs Korea."

Korea has been engaging in trade negotiations with the United States on tariffs, nontariff measures and other issues, with the two sides having agreed to craft a package by July 8 — when the Donald Trump administration's suspension of reciprocal tariffs will end.

The Trump administration slapped Korea with 25 percent reciprocal tariffs in early April, raising issues with Seoul's big trade surplus with Washington and nontariff barriers, such as an import ban on U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or older and restrictions on the overseas transfer of the country's high-precision map data.

Yonhap