The United States and South Korea said on Wednesday (29) that they had finalized the details of a trade agreement after a meeting between American President Donald Trump and South Korean president Lee Jae-myung.
“We have reached an agreement,” Trump said in the South Korean city of Gyeongju during a dinner with other leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, which is holding its leaders’ summit this week, although he added that the deal was “pretty much finalized.”
Kim Yong-beom, South Korean chief of staff for political affairs, said at a press conference that both countries had reached an agreement on how to finance the $350 billion investment that Seoul has committed to making in the United States to set Washington’s so-called reciprocal tariffs at 15%.
Kim, cited by the South Korean agency Yonhap, confirmed that Seoul has agreed that US$200 billion in investments will be made in kind, with an annual limit of US$20 billion per year.
The bilateral meeting between Lee and Trump was surrounded by skepticism about its ability to produce concrete results, as the two countries differed over the proportion of cash investment required by the US.
South Korean negotiators, who made several trips to Washington in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s meeting, warned that the two countries remained divided on key points. Trump, however, stated this Wednesday, at an event with APEC executives, that he would finalize the details of the trade agreement “very soon”.
During the meeting, Lee promised to increase military spending, as requested by Washington. The South Korean president also honored Trump with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the country’s highest decoration, and with a replica of a golden crown from an ancient Korean dynasty.
Trump arrived in South Korea this Wednesday as the last stop of his trip through Asia, which also took him to Malaysia and Japan. He is expected to meet this Thursday (30) in the South Korean city of Busan with Chinese dictator, Xi Jinping, in the first meeting between the two since the Republican returned to the White House in January.
