Deputy Minister Wi Seong-rak met with Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio on the 7th (local time) at the White House. During Deputy Minister Wi's visit to the U.S., the White House revealed a letter in which President Donald Trump informed President Lee Jae-myung that 'a reciprocal tariff of 25% would be imposed starting August 1.'
Regarding this letter, Secretary Rubio reportedly said during the meeting with Deputy Minister Wi, 'This was uniformly sent to all countries where a trade agreement has not been made.' He added, 'Since there is a period for negotiations before August 1, let's communicate closely to reach an agreement.'
Deputy Minister Wi returned to Korea on the 9th (Korean time) after a 2-night, 4-day visit to Washington, D.C., to discuss issues such as tariffs between the two countries. On that day, Deputy Minister Wi held a press briefing at the Presidential Office and stated, 'On the 7th, I had discussions with Secretary Rubio at the White House regarding the current issues and ways to strengthen the alliance, including high-level exchanges.'
During the meeting, Deputy Minister Wi told Secretary Rubio, 'The letter from President Trump appears to be focused on tariffs and non-tariff barriers, so let's discuss this package along with investments, purchases, and security, which Korea has raised so far.' Secretary Rubio reportedly expressed agreement with this. Furthermore, Secretary Rubio stated that the letter was uniformly sent to all countries where trade agreements have not been made and called for close agreement by the deadline.
Deputy Minister Wi also proposed to the U.S. side, 'Let's hold a South Korea-U.S. summit as soon as possible.' Secretary Rubio reportedly agreed with this. It was also stated that the two countries decided to communicate closely on current issues and alliance strengthening measures.