South Korea’s chief trade negotiator to visit US

SEOUL: South Korea’s trade minister Yeo Han-koo will visit the United States from June 22 to 27, the trade ministry said on Saturday.

The visit will include discussions with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and the third round of bilateral technical discussions, a ministry official told Reuters. Further details about the meetings were not disclosed. “Since a South Korea-US summit has yet to take place and key ministers have not been appointed under the new administration, negotiations are likely to focus on areas that the trade ministry can manage -- excluding major issues such as defence cost -- sharing and exchange rates,” Heo Yoon, an economics professor at Sogang University, said. “Given these circumstances, reaching a comprehensive agreement on key negotiation frameworks and agendas is expected to be challenging.”

South Korea, which is currently facing a 10 per cent blanket tariff and a 25 per cent country-specific duty temporarily paused for 90 days, agreed with the US during initial trade negotiations in late April to craft a trade deal reducing tariffs by July 8.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter amid US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and domestic political unrest following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law decree in December.