South Korea’s government said it was blindsided 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.
Seoul has not yet ratified the US trade agreement in the National Assembly. That legal step, expected in late February or early March, was widely viewed as a formality after South Korea indicated readiness to accept 15% tariffs on several key exports to the US, including cars and pharmaceuticals. South Korea had also pledged $350 billion (nearly €297 billion) in US investment in return for the 15% rate.
With Trump again changing the terms, analysts warn of growing discontent in the allied country that could push Seoul to strengthen trade and economic ties with other partners, including China.
In a move seen as aggressive by many in Seoul, the US Treasury also placed the won, South Korea’s currency, on its monitoring list for possible manipulation last week.
Dealing with Trump “undoubtedly burdensome”
The South Korean government scrambled to arrange meetings with senior US officials to explain the ratification process. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, but it remained unclear whether the administration would be swayed.
“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. “He is not always logical and is highly unpredictable, which makes him difficult to trust.”
Lee added that any major power that can influence South Korea — the US, China, Russia or Japan — is a difficult counterpart, and that it is frustrating to see the United States, long regarded as an ally, behaving this way.
The frustration is widely shared in South Korea, though President Lee Jae Myung’s administration has refrained from direct criticism of Washington. An editorial in the Korea JoongAng Daily said the Trump administration “shows little regard for allies” and that the issue “has become constant,” adding that Korea-US relations have been like “a walk on thin ice” across trade and security issues.
Scandal over Coupang and US pressure
Seoul and Washington are also clashing over Coupang Inc., a tech and online retail company headquartered in Seattle with rapid expansion in South Korea. In November, Coupang’s Korean arm confirmed the personal data of nearly 34 million customers — including phone numbers and email addresses — had been leaked.
The breach prompted intense scrutiny from Korean regulators and the resignation of subsidiary CEO Park Dae-jun, who was replaced by Harold Rogers from the company’s US base. Park was questioned by police on suspicion of perjury during a National Assembly hearing in December, while Rogers was interviewed for 12 hours last Friday on suspicion of destroying evidence related to the leak.
The probe has become controversial after senior US officials criticized the Korean investigation, prompting suspicions in Seoul that Washington is attempting to strong-arm a legitimate inquiry. The day after Trump announced 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,” arguing that the intervention appears to be a blunt attempt to shield a powerful corporation from legitimate law enforcement rather than a genuine plea against discriminatory treatment.
Sogang University’s Lee said many Koreans were angered by the US stance. She criticized Rogers for evasive answers and an attitude that many perceived as dismissive of Korean lawmakers, saying viewers felt his demeanor suggested “representatives of a country like Korea were beneath his consideration,” which provoked “anger and despair” among citizens.
Was South Korea dragging its feet on trade?
Park Jung-won, a law professor at Dankook University, said Koreans have been stunned by Trump’s aggressive diplomacy, even toward allies, but also placed some blame on Seoul. He suggested the Lee administration delayed legislation to formalize the tariff deal in hopes the US Supreme Court might rule that Trump lacked the authority to impose tariffs.
“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.”
Edited by: Darko Janjevic