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Trump's message on hiking tariffs on Korea unrelated to Coupang issue: Foreign Minister Cho

Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 16:05

A Coupang truck is parked in Seoul on Jan. 23. [NEWS1]

U.S. President Donald Trump's recent warning of a tariff hike on Korean goods appears unrelated to what it claims to be a discriminatory probe by Seoul into e-commerce giant Coupang or other online platform issues, Seoul's top diplomat said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun made the remarks during a parliamentary session, dismissing suspicions that Trump's social media post this week, which signaled raising reciprocal tariffs from 15 percent to 25 percent, was linked to Washington's dissatisfaction with a Korean investigation into Coupang's data leak.

"From what we've gathered from our contact with the [U.S.] State Department after [Trump's] message, we have concluded that there is no direct connection to Coupang or [the proposed] online platform bill," Cho said at the National Assembly.

The government is pushing for a bill aimed at preventing major platform operators, such as Naver, Kakao, Google and Apple, from abusing their market dominance through unfair practices or by exerting undue pressure on smaller merchants that operate on their platforms.

U.S. lawmakers and other figures have expressed concerns about regulatory moves targeting online tech firms and have called for adherence to the joint summit agreement, in which Seoul has committed to ensuring there are no unnecessary barriers to digital services.

They have also denounced the way Seoul is handling the data breach of the U.S.-listed Coupang that has affected more than 33 million Korean users, calling it a discriminatory approach and a political witch hunt.

On Monday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would increase the tariff rate on autos, pharmaceuticals, and other goods to 25 percent from the agreed-upon 15 percent, taking issue with delays in Seoul's legislative procedures to implement the trade deal.

Trump said Tuesday that his administration will "work something out" with Korea.

"Another message [from Trump] has come out. I think it clearly reflects the nature of the U.S. administration," Cho said.

"Unfortunately, seeing how the U.S. government has changed has led me to believe that we, including both the ruling and opposition parties, need to respond accordingly."

Yonhap