KB News Desk
South Korea and the US are seeking to resolve last-minute issues over a $200 billion Korean investment package, potentially complicating Seoul’s goal of unveiling the first projects by the end of this month, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Sunday.
“We had been considering announcing the projects around late August or early September, but various concrete, working-level issues have emerged in the final stage,” Kim told reporters after arriving at Dulles International Airport near Washington.
Kim said the two sides had held virtual meetings and working-level consultations but now needed to comprehensively review the outstanding issues. He is expected to meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other Trump administration officials during the visit.
Asked whether the first projects could still be announced in late August, Kim said negotiations were proceeding toward that goal, although more issues had arisen than expected.
“We came here with the aim of resolving them somehow,” he said.
Under a trade agreement reached last year, Washington lowered tariffs on Korean goods from 25 percent to 15 percent in return for $350 billion in Korean investment commitments. Of that amount, $150 billion was earmarked for shipbuilding cooperation, while the two governments have continued negotiating how to implement the remaining $200 billion.
Kim denied receiving direct US pressure threatening higher tariffs if Seoul failed to accelerate the investments. He said both governments agreed on the need to move faster, noting that nearly a year had passed since the agreement.
Concerns are growing that additional US levies tied to forced labor and an ongoing Section 301 investigation into industrial overcapacity could push tariffs on some Korean products above the agreed 15 percent ceiling.
The Korean government maintains that the two countries share an understanding that tariffs should remain capped at 15 percent.
Kim said Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had previously pledged to uphold the spirit of the agreement.
“We will not prejudge the outcome and will do our utmost,” Kim said.
Kim declined to confirm whether a combined-cycle power project remained the leading candidate to become the first investment under the package.
The trip marks Kim’s second visit to the US in three weeks.
