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Trade minister meets economic delegation from Montana on potential cooperation

Published: 20 Oct. 2025, 12:07

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo leaves Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 2 after returning to Korea on Oct. 19. [KIM JONG-HO]

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met with a visiting economic delegation from the northwestern U.S. state of Montana on Monday to discuss ways to bolster bilateral cooperation in energy, manufacturing and supply chains, Yeo's office said.

The minister held talks with the Montana delegation, led by Gov. Greg Gianforte, in Seoul to exchange views on ways to bolster economic cooperation between Korea and the United States, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

In the meeting, the two sides agreed to join hands in strengthening energy security and diversifying critical mineral supply chains by utilizing Korea's manufacturing capabilities and Montana's abundant natural resources, the ministry said.

Yeo called for ways to create a stable environment for Korean companies investing in the United States, including appropriate visa issuance, mentioning the arrests of hundreds of Korean nationals in Georgia in an immigration raid last month, it added.

He also noted that Seoul and Washington are holding “constructive” talks to reach “mutually beneficial” results in follow-up negotiations on their bilateral framework trade agreement reached in late July.

Yeo visited the United States last week as the two countries are working to iron out differences over the details of Korea's $350 billion investment commitment to the United States, such as financing methods and profit allocation.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier said the investment would be made “up front,” while Seoul officials have argued that the investment pledge was intended to finance projects rather than a cash payment and called for financial safeguards, such as a currency swap arrangement.

On Sunday, Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, said, “There was substantive progress on most of the issues,” raising expectations that the negotiations could end in time for the APEC summit set to take place here at the end of this month.

Yonhap