At a government briefing in Sejong City, Park Sung-taek, South Korea’s first vice industry minister, said the country’s trade policy director would travel to Washington in the coming days to conduct final working-level consultations.
“We plan to establish about six working groups across three areas and proceed with official technical consultations next week,” Park said.
The two sides agreed to form the working groups following their "2+2" ministerial consultations in Washington on April 24. Talks will center on four key agenda items: tariff and non-tariff barriers, economic security, investment cooperation, and currency policies.
Park added that Jamieson Greer, the United States Trade Representative, would visit South Korea in mid-May to assess the progress of the technical discussions and chart the next steps.
Negotiators face significant challenges. Among them are persistent U.S. concerns over South Korea’s restrictions on beef imports from cattle older than 30 months — a longstanding source of friction.
Although U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that a preliminary “trade understanding agreement” could be reached as early as next week, Park dismissed the possibility of any deal before South Korea’s incoming administration takes office.
“Since this is a package deal encompassing various agenda items, it’s impossible to complete the decision-making process by June,” Park said.
In parallel, Washington is pushing for South Korean participation in an Alaska liquefied natural gas project whose commercial prospects remain uncertain. High-level meetings are scheduled for June, as the United States seeks investment commitments from both South Korea and Japan.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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