South Korea wants a U.S. trade package that is mutually beneficial

South Korea is working on a trade deal that works for both the US and South Korea before next week’s meetings of ministers and the US’s deadline of August 1 for tariff freezes, the presidential office said on Saturday.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is very interested in shipbuilding cooperation, and he talked about it with South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan on Friday, the statement said.

Yesterday, Lutnick and Kim repeated their goal to reach a trade agreement by August 1. This was in response to the fact that a meeting of finance ministers and top trade envoys that was supposed to happen on Friday had to be rescheduled.

As a result of 25% tariffs, South Korea is rushing to reach a trade deal with the U.S. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac recently visited the U.S. for high-level talks, and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo is also in the U.S. for negotiations. Officials are under more pressure to reach a deal that is at least as good as Japan’s, which cut tariffs to 15%.

Negotiations between South Korea and the U.S. over trade have included non-tariff barriers in the agricultural and digital service sectors. However, South Korean officials say that currency exchange has not been a part of the trade talks beyond normal discussions.

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, arrived in Scotland on Friday for talks with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. These talks could lead to a trade deal with the European Union, coming after similar deals with Japan and the Philippines earlier this week.

Americans and Chinese leaders will meet again next week in Sweden to talk about extending the date they set for trade between the two countries, which is August 12.

Next week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and State Secretary Marco Rubio will meet with South Korea’s Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.