South Korea said it was taken by surprise last week when Donald Trump accused Seoul of “not living up” to a bilateral trade deal signed in October and announced a new 25% tariff on Korean imports.
The trade pact has not yet been ratified by South Korea’s National Assembly. Ratification, expected in late February or early March, was widely seen as a formality after Seoul signalled it would accept 15% tariffs on several major exports to the US — including cars and pharmaceuticals — in exchange for roughly $350 billion in US investment. With Trump’s sudden move to raise the rate to 25%, analysts warn of growing frustration in South Korea that could push Seoul to deepen economic ties with other partners, notably China.
Tensions were heightened when the US Treasury put the won, South Korea’s currency, on a monitoring list for possible manipulation. The combination of the tariff announcement and the currency monitoring designation added to a sense in Seoul that relations were being strained.
The government scrambled to arrange high-level consultations in Washington. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but Seoul said it remained uncertain whether the US would reverse course. “For the Korean government, dealing with an individual like Trump — who operates outside predictable institutional norms — is undoubtedly burdensome,” said Hyobin Lee, a professor at Sogang University in Seoul. Lee added that Trump’s unpredictability makes him difficult to trust and that it is frustrating to see a long-standing ally behave in such a manner.
The sentiment is widely shared in South Korea, although President Lee Jae Myung’s administration has avoided direct public criticism of Washington. An editorial in the Korea JoongAng Daily said the Trump administration “shows little regard for allies” and that the relationship “has become constant” trouble, describing Korea–US ties as “a walk on thin ice” across both trade and security issues.
A separate row has flared over Coupang Inc., an online retail and tech company headquartered in Seattle with rapid growth in South Korea. In November, Coupang’s Korean unit confirmed a data breach affecting nearly 34 million customers, exposing phone numbers and email addresses. The incident prompted scrutiny from Korean regulators and the resignation of the Korean subsidiary’s CEO Park Dae-jun, who was replaced by Harold Rogers from the company’s US operations.
Park was questioned by police on suspicion of perjury during a National Assembly hearing in December. Rogers was interviewed for 12 hours last Friday on suspicion of destroying evidence related to the leak. The investigation became politically charged after senior US officials criticised Korean authorities’ handling of the probe, prompting suspicions in Seoul that Washington was attempting to pressure or shield the company. The day after Trump announced the higher tariffs, US Vice President JD Vance warned Prime Minister Kim Min-seok against “penalizing” Coupang and other US tech firms. An editorial in the Korea Times called Vance’s remarks “a troubling escalation,” suggesting the intervention appeared aimed at protecting a powerful corporation from legitimate law enforcement.
Sogang University’s Lee said many Koreans were angered by what they saw as dismissive behaviour from Rogers during questioning. She said viewers perceived his answers and attitude as showing little regard for Korean lawmakers, a stance that provoked “anger and despair” among citizens.
Not all commentators place full blame on Washington. Park Jung-won, a law professor at Dankook University, said Koreans were stunned by Trump’s aggressive approach even toward allies, but suggested Seoul bore some responsibility. Park argued that the Lee administration may have intentionally delayed ratifying the agreement in the hope that the US Supreme Court would limit the president’s tariff authority. “If Korea has been trying to delay the decision, it leaves Lee in a very difficult position,” Park said. “The 15% tariffs were bad enough, but to now have that at 25% is going to cause serious problems for many Korean companies.”