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'No more time': Seoul's trade talk chiefs put damper on hopes for U.S. deal

Published: 24 Oct. 2025, 19:45

Presidential Director of National Policy Kim Yong-beom, left, and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, right, speak to reporters upon returning from the United States at Incheon International Airport on Oct. 24. [YONHAP]

Hopes for a swift resolution in tariff negotiations between Korea and the United States are fading, despite earlier optimism that the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju could serve as a breakthrough moment, especially with U.S. President Donald Trump expected to attend.

Returning from a final round of talks in Washington ahead of the summit, Presidential Director of National Policy Kim Yong-beom and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said early Friday morning that significant differences still remain.

“We stand in a stiff deadlock over core issues,” the two told reporters at Incheon International Airport on Friday.

Regarding the possibility of a deal during the summit, they said, “There’s no more time for additional face-to-face negotiations. APEC is around the corner, the day is ending, and the road ahead is long. Still, we will make every effort until the end — negotiations can sometimes progress rapidly at the last minute.”

The latest remarks stand in contrast to policy director Kim's tone just five days earlier. Upon returning from a previous trip to the United States on Sunday, he had said, “We’ve made substantial progress on most issues,” and that the likelihood of a deal at APEC had increased.

The stark change in tone in his remarks within five days appears to imply that little progress was made on these issues during this visit.

The remaining sticking point is how much of Korea’s pledged $350 billion investment in the United States will be made through direct investments, and how it will be distributed annually.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan speaks during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Oct. 24. [NEWS1]

The presidential office is now preparing for a prolonged negotiation process. President Lee Jae Myung acknowledged in an interview with CNN, aired a day earlier, that the talks “may take more time.”

In a separate written interview with the Singapore-based Straits Times, Lee said the negotiations would not be bound by an “artificial” deadline.

Lee said the presidential office is carefully reviewing the potential impact on Korea’s financial markets and working to find a solution that maximizes mutual benefit.

“The government never set a deadline to wrap up talks during the APEC meeting,” a senior presidential aide confirmed. “We have been preparing for the possibility of long-term negotiations.”

A key figure in the Democratic Party bloc said the shift in Washington’s stance is also playing a role in the delays.

“Early on, the United States was pressuring us to quickly draft an agreement,” the official said. “But now that pressure is gone. From their perspective, it may not be a bad idea to keep the talks going until the midterm elections in November next year.”

If the tariff talks are not finalized at APEC, the announcement of a broader Korea-U.S. security agreement is also expected to be delayed.

“The United States prefers to announce the tariff and security agreements at the same time,” said National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Friday. “If that’s what they want, we are open to it.”

Negotiations on the security package — which includes increased defense cost sharing and revisions to the nuclear cooperation agreement — are reportedly nearing completion.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY YOON SUNG-MIN [[email protected]]