NEW YORK – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged the US to pursue tariff negotiations on a “commercially rational” basis during a meeting in New York with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday, while reiterating Seoul’s request for a bilateral currency swap line.
The meeting at Korea’s United Nations mission was Lee’s second with Bessent in just over a month, following their initial contact on the sidelines of a Washington summit with US President Donald Trump.
“Security cooperation is progressing well, but we also need constructive discussions in trade,” Lee told the US Treasury secretary, according to Kim Yong-beom, Lee’s chief of staff for policy, while briefing the press on the Lee-Bessent meeting.
President Lee said Seoul’s planned $350 billion US investment package should be structured “in a way that serves both countries’ interests based on commercial rationality.”
He stressed that a similar arrangement between Washington and Tokyo could not serve as a template for Seoul.
“Korea’s economy and its foreign exchange market infrastructure are not comparable with Japan’s,” he said.
In response, Bessent said that “short-term challenges can be overcome,” according to Seoul’s Presidential Chief of Staff Kim.
The US Treasury secretary emphasized the importance of Korean investment in US shipbuilding, a sector highlighted by Trump, Kim said.
“The alliance is strong, and I have listened carefully to President Lee’s points,” Bessent said, noting that Washington will “internally” reconsider his points.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES STORY
Behind the scenes, Seoul officials highlighted sticking points in the tariff and investment talks.
Senior government officials in Seoul said the two sides remained at odds over the structure of the $350 billion fund.
The US side, a government source said, is pushing for arrangements close to equity investment, while Seoul insists on treating the commitments more as loans or guarantees.
Differences also remain over how profits from the investment should be shared: Washington is demanding 90% of returns from the Korean investment, while Seoul is pressing for the same share.
On non-tariff matters, Presidential Chief of Staff Kim said at the media briefing that Seoul had made clear that “rice and beef are off the table” despite US calls for agricultural market opening.
“We will not sacrifice principles because of deadlines,” he said, though he acknowledged that the APEC summit in Korea’s historic city of Gyeongju Oct. 31–Nov. 1 will be an important milestone.
CURRENCY SWAP ARRANGEMENT
Lee also pressed Bessent on a currency swap arrangement, following up on recent contacts between Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong and the US Treasury secretary in New York.
“Throughout this process, we believe Bessent is fully aware of what’s at issue, and today, President Lee directly brought up the matter [Korea’s demand for a currency swap] at his meeting with the US treasury secretary,” Kim said at the media briefing. “Bessent said he will discuss the matter with relevant government officials.”
Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said in a recent interview with Bloomberg News that unresolved visa disputes and currency swap issues with Washington could derail tens of billions of dollars in Korean corporate investments in the US.
Meanwhile, Bessent disclosed that Washington is separately in talks with Argentina over a $20 billion currency swap line and is prepared to purchase dollar-denominated government bonds issued by Argentina in support of the Latin American country.
LEE’S VISIT TO NYSE TO ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTMENT TO KOREA
On Thursday, Korean President Lee plans to visit the New York Stock Exchange to participate in a Korea investment summit.
Flanked by Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and other Korean business leaders, Lee is expected to try to woo global investors into valuable Korean assets.
Wall Street’s top financial figures likely to attend the investment summit include Jane Fraser, chief executive of investment bank Citi; Emmanuel Roman, CEO of PIMCO, a fixed-income investment management firm; Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson; JPMorgan Asset Management CEO Mary Erdoes; Blackstone Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gray; Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan; KKR & Co. Co-CEO Joseph Bae; Ares Management Corp. CEO Michael Arougheti; and Marc Nachmann, head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s investment banking division.
By Jae-young Han and Hyung-Kyu Kim
jyhan@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
