Acting Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said regarding the implementation of the United States' country-specific tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, "Although some countries may respond with retaliatory tariffs, it is a wiser solution to elevate the Korea-U.S. alliance into a security alliance and economic unions."
Acting Prime Minister Han noted in a Facebook post on the 9th, "In game theory, individual players repeating selfish choices may seem to benefit in the short term, but often everyone ends up losing. The best way to solve the problem is to communicate calmly with the opponent and persistently seek a path that can ensure mutual benefits."
Acting Prime Minister Han said, "Some people say that 'global free trade is dead,' but I do not think so," and added, "There may be those who wonder how I can be so optimistic, but to those people, I want to ask, 'How can we solve any problem without the power of optimism?'"
Acting Prime Minister Han mentioned, "Yesterday, while having gimbap with senior officials in the office, I prepared and reviewed our points in line with the CNN interview and the call with President Trump," adding, "Fortunately, the responses from both the interview and the summit call have been positive." He continued, "There are still long and difficult negotiations ahead, and I will devote all my efforts to them."
Acting Prime Minister Han conducted an interview with CNN from 4 p.m. the previous day. From 9 p.m., he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump for about 30 minutes.
Earlier, President Trump imposed a 34% tariff on China, and after China retaliated with counter-tariffs, he raised tariffs an additional 50%. In addition, a previously imposed 20% tariff related to the influx of fentanyl is applied, resulting in a total tariff of 104% on China.