South Korea’s President Lee pledges support on trade issues in meeting with top conglomerates
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South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaking during a meeting with business leaders at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, on June 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SEOUL – South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said on June 13 that his government would focus on easing regulations and accelerate working-level tariff talks with Washington as part of its broader support for companies on trade issues.
The future of South Korea’s export-oriented economy, with key sectors from chips to vehicles and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade, may hinge on the kind of deal Mr Lee can strike on tariffs with US President Donald Trump.
Mr Lee made the comments at a meeting with heads of top conglomerates
“Companies are currently having difficulties in international competition, and we will focus on minimising the difficulties they are experiencing in international competition and expanding their economic territory,” Mr Lee Jae-myung told the meeting.
The South Korean President said he would put national interests first, based on his “pragmatic, flexible” trade policy, and speed working-level tariff talks with Washington, his spokesman, Mr Kang Yu-jung, told a briefing.
A liberal elected on June 3 on a business-friendly plank, Mr Lee Jae-myung asked the gathered executives for suggestions on the trade situation, and vowed the government would do its best to follow them.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won also attended the meeting, according to the South Korean President’s office.
Mr Chey, who also leads the Korea Chamber of Commerce, told Mr Lee Jae-myung that Korean companies found it difficult to make decisions such as investments amid the uncertainty around US tariffs.
Samsung’s Mr Lee said he hoped the partnership between the government and private firms could help South Korea weather a “multi-dimensional crisis”.
In a separate event on June 13, Mr Kim Hee-sang, Seoul’s deputy minister for economic affairs, met a senior US diplomat and the two reaffirmed the US-South Korea alliance.
“We should explore ways to strengthen cooperation in various fields,” said Mr Sean O’Neill, a senior official of the US State Department’s bureau of East Asian and Pacific affairs, according to the South Korean government.
Such areas included shipbuilding, economic security and expanding mutual investment, Mr O’Neill added.
Last week, the South Korean President and Mr Trump agreed to work towards a swift deal in their first telephone call since Mr Lee Jae-myung took office.
At the meeting with business leaders, the industry ministry said it would assess the impact of US tariffs on makers of home appliances and prepare support measures. REUTERS
