Seoul: South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun announced that Seoul intends to approach its ongoing trade discussions with the United States “calmly and cautiously”.
Speaking to reporters after returning from Washington, Ahn noted that while the negotiations had gotten off to a positive start, South Korea would maintain a vigilant stance, carefully observing the progress of U.S. trade talks with other nations.
“This (coming) week, working-level talks will kick off during which a specific working group will be confirmed,” Ahn said, highlighting the upcoming steps in the negotiation process.
Seoul aims to continue its consultations with Washington until early July, with the goal of securing tariff exemptions, he added.
Following the first round of discussions in Washington, South Korea and the United States agreed to develop a package of deals designed to eliminate the newly introduced U.S. tariffs before the expiration of the pause on reciprocal tariffs scheduled for July.
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During the trip, Ahn and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
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Describing the discussions as “productive”, Greer’s office emphasized in a statement on Friday that both sides shared a commitment to making “expedient and meaningful progress toward reciprocal and balanced trade” between the two countries.
