South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (left) speaks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting held in Niagara, Canada, in November. (Courtesy of the Foreign Ministry) South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is set to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington this week, as Seoul has launched an all-out diplomatic effort with Washington amid mounting tensions over US tariff policy.
According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Monday, Cho will meet Rubio on Tuesday afternoon (Washington time) on the sidelines of the US-hosted ministerial meeting on critical minerals. The meeting will mark the first in-person talks between the two foreign ministers since South Korea and the US released a joint summit fact sheet on Nov. 14, outlining agreements on trade, investment and supply chain cooperation.
The ministry said the two sides plan to hold comprehensive discussions on bilateral issues, including ways to accelerate follow-up measures stemming from the joint fact sheet.
Cho’s visit comes as talks between Seoul and Washington have run into difficulty following warnings by US President Donald Trump on Jan. 26 that the US could raise “reciprocal” tariffs on Korean goods to 25 percent. Trump and Washington have cited delays in the South Korean National Assembly’s handling of a special bill required to implement South Korea’s US investment package.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan recently traveled to Washington and held two rounds of discussions with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, but returned to Seoul without a breakthrough. After the meeting, Kim said the talks did not produce a concrete conclusion but helped clear up misunderstandings, adding that he believed the discussions were meaningful in resolving what he described as “unnecessary misunderstandings” between the two sides.
Since last week, Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo has also remained in Washington to engage US officials, including US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in an effort to reassure the Trump administration of Korea’s investment commitments.
Against this backdrop, Cho’s meeting with Rubio is drawing attention as the first high-level diplomatic engagement between the two countries since Trump’s tariff warning. If held as planned, Cho is expected to emphasize South Korea’s efforts to implement the joint summit agreements and explain the procedural realities facing the National Assembly here.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has said it aims to pass the special investment bill by late February or early March during an extraordinary parliamentary session. The legislation would lay out procedures for implementing Seoul’s US investment package, including memoranda of understanding and the establishment of a strategic investment fund.
However, observers note that even if the bill is passed, there is no guarantee that Washington will suspend or roll back the planned tariff increase, leaving uncertainty over the trajectory of South Korea-US trade relations in the coming weeks.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com