While South Korea and the US were able to reach a trade deal Thursday that set tariffs on exports to the US at 15 percent, the hours leading up to the announcement of the agreement were a whirlwind of uncertainty and frantic activity.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his aides remained on high alert throughout the night, continuing to receive reports from Seoul’s trade delegation led by Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol in Washington.
The delegation made last-minute efforts to reach a deal before the looming Aug. 1 deadline, after which Korea would have been hit with a blanket 25 percent tariff if it failed to strike a deal.
“I kept calling and reporting (to President Lee) at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. (about progress in the tariff negotiations),” said Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, in a morning briefing. “I’ve never seen the president so focused and directly involved.”
The 13-hour time difference between Seoul and Washington kept the presidential office busy late into the night and into the morning. As Seoul’s delegation met with Trump in Washington Wednesday afternoon, US time, the presidential office here alerted the press around 6:07 a.m. that the meeting had started.
After the deal was reached, Trump was first to announce at 7:16 a.m. on his Truth Social platform that a “Full and Complete” deal had been reached. Within an hour, Lee posted his own announcement on Facebook. A press briefing by the presidential office was then announced, set for 8 a.m.
Kim also indicated that the negotiation process wasn’t easy, with the delegation pushing for a lower 12.5 percent tariff “until the very end,” though Trump insisted on keeping the levy at 15 percent.
Tensions escalated when officials took up the topic of US demands for greater access to South Korea's agricultural markets, especially beef and rice, in exchange for lowering the tariff.
“It is widely known that (Washington) has been frequently talking about rice and beef, and I believe voices were raised (during the negotiations),” Kim told the briefing.
The topic has become a sensitive issue in South Korea, with local farmers protesting that further opening the sector to US imports would damage local producers. Farmers also oppose lifting the current ban on US beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, pointing to the 2008 mad cow disease scare.
The two countries eventually agreed that Korea would not further open its agricultural market, according to the South Korean presidential office, but part of Trump’s statement on Truth Social suggested otherwise.
“It is also agreed that South Korea will completely OPEN TO TRADE with the United States and that they will accept American products including Cars and Trucks, Agriculture, etc.,” Trump wrote.
When asked about this, Kim told the briefing that the important thing was the discussion held by the negotiators and that he understood Trump's comments as expressions made from the perspective of a political leader. Kim said South Korea currently has open trade on 99.7 percent of agricultural products, with the 0.3 percent that still have special protections limited to 10 or fewer items, in accordance with the Korea-US free trade agreement.
In the afternoon, Lee thanked his Cabinet and staff at the presidential office for their full-fledged efforts to reach an agreement with the US, while highlighting the difficulties in the process leading up to the deal.
"I would like to thank the prime minister, ministers and those who were part of the working teams for their efforts to secure the deal from last night until dawn today," he said during a government workshop for high-ranking officials.
"Our close aides and staff will know how deeply concerned we were... It was a difficult environment and made me realize I would need to further foster our national strength," he added.
