South Korea’s Lee, Trump agree to work towards ‘satisfactory’ tariff deal

SEOUL – US President Donald Trump and South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung agreed to work towards a swift tariff deal and shared stories about their experiences in their first phone call since Mr Lee was elected, his office said on June 6.

Mr Trump has

imposed tariffs on South Korea

, which has a bilateral free trade deal with the US, pressed it to pay more for the 28,500 US troops stationed there and increased competition with China.

The future of South Korea’s export-oriented economy will hinge on what kind of deal Mr Lee can strike, with all of his country’s key sectors from chips to vehicles and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade. His term began on June 4.

“The two presidents agreed to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations as soon as possible that both countries can be satisfied with,” Mr Lee’s office said in a statement.

“To this end, they decided to encourage working-level negotiations to yield tangible results.”

Mr Trump invited Mr Lee to a summit in the US and they plan to meet soon, according to a White House official.

The two leaders also shared stories from the campaign trail, including of assassination attempts and political difficulties, and agreed that strong leadership emerges as they overcome difficulties, Mr Lee’s office said.

Mr Lee survived a knife attack and underwent surgery when he was stabbed in the neck by a man during an event in 2024.

Mr Trump and Mr Lee also talked of their golf skills and agreed to play golf when possible, Mr Lee’s office said, while Mr Lee mentioned that he was given a hat with Mr Trump’s signature on it.

South Korea, a major US ally and one of the first countries to engage with Washington after Japan on trade talks, agreed in late April to craft a “July package” scrapping levies before the 90-day pause on Mr Trump’s reciprocal tariffs is lifted, but progress was disrupted by upheavals in its leadership.

Mr Lee, a liberal,

was elected on June 3

after the US ally’s former conservative leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached and ousted.

Mr Lee said on the eve of the elections that “the most pressing matter is trade negotiations with the United States”. Mr Lee’s camp has said, however, that they intend to seek more time to negotiate on trade with Mr Trump.

While reiterating the importance of the US-South Korea alliance, Mr Lee has also expressed more conciliatory plans for ties with China and North Korea, singling out the importance of China as a major trading partner while indicating reluctance to take a firm stance on security tensions in the Taiwan Strait. REUTERS