Tag: South Korea

South Korea was pretty much forced to cut a deal with the Trump administration after the Japanese completed a deal just a week prior. They basically got the same trade deal as the Japanese:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration has agreed to lower “reciprocal” tariffs on South Korea to 15 percent from the proposed 25 percent in return for massive investments and market opening, and hold a summit with President Lee Jae Myung at the White House in two weeks.

Trump announced the deal with South Korea in a social media post, shortly after Seoul’s Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and other top negotiators met him in an effort to finalize an agreement before Friday, when the steep blanket tariffs are set to take effect unless a deal is reached.

“We have agreed to a Tariff for South Korea of 15%. America will not be charged a Tariff,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Under what he called a “full and complete” trade deal, Trump said South Korea will give the United States US$350 billion for investments “owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself.”

He claimed South Korea has agreed that it will be “completely” open to trade with the U.S., and that it will accept American products, including cars, trucks and agricultural goods.

The deal also includes South Korea’s agreement to purchase $100 billion of U.S. liquefied natural gas or other energy products, and invest a large sum of money for Seoul’s investment purposes, Trump said.

“This sum will be announced within the next two weeks when the President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, comes to the White House for a Bilateral Meeting,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It sounds like this ROK C-130 was in contact with U.S. Air Force air traffic control to land at Kadena, but no one bothered to inform the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) of this landing:

Japanese fighter jets intercepted a South Korean airlifter low on fuel that entered Japanese airspace without approval while diverting to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, officials from both countries said Friday. A South Korean C-130 Hercules entered Japanese airspace without approval on July 13, a spokesman for Japan’s Joint Staff said by phone Friday. It was en route to Andersen Air Force base, Guam, to participate in a multinational exercise, according to text messages sent to reporters by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

The ministry did not name the exercise, but the U.S. Air Force is conducting the large-scale Resolute Force Pacific through Aug. 8 across the Indo-Pacific, including Guam. The C-130 burned more fuel than anticipated while rerouting around stormy weather and diverted to Kadena to refuel, according to the ministry. However, the diversion was made without prior clearance from Japanese authorities, the Joint Staff spokesman said.

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled jets to intercept the C-130, but the spokesman did not provide further details. “We transmitted to South Korea that this scramble is regrettable and asked them to take measures to prevent further instances,” he said. “But as they are our important partner, we will continue to work closely together to address the issue.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

What I find interesting about this is that the former ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife could face charges for trying to influence an internal party election. This stands is in comparison to the U.S. where members of the Democrat party meddled to remove a sitting President that had won his party’s primary for a female candidate that won no primaries. Nothing ever happened to the Democrats who meddled to remove Joe Biden:

A prominent opposition lawmaker appeared for questioning by a special counsel Sunday over his alleged involvement in the party’s candidate nominations for key elections in 2022 and 2024, reportedly at the behest of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. 

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) arrived at the special counsel’s office in central Seoul at around 9:30 a.m.

“I will seriously, sincerely and faithfully cooperate with the investigation,” Yoon told a swarm of reporters before entering. 

Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team is investigating allegations that the former president and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, exerted influence to have former lawmaker Kim Young-sun win the then ruling party’s nomination in the 2022 parliamentary by-elections.

In a previously disclosed phone call, allegedly recorded in May 2022, Yoon suggested to self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun that he would instruct Rep. Yoon to make sure Kim wins the party nomination.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is what the U.S. Commerce Secretary had to say in regards to South Korea after Japan signed a new trade deal with the U.S.:

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that he could hear “expletives” out of South Korea after Japan reached a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this week.

Lutnick made the remarks, apparently suggesting that the tariff deal between the United States and Japan might have created a sense of urgency for South Korea, which seeks to reach a deal to avoid or lower the Trump administration’s 25 percent “reciprocal” tariff set to kick in on Aug. 1.

“I could hear the expletives out of Korea when they read the Japanese deal because the Koreans and the Japanese … they stare at each other,” he said in a CNBC interview.

“So you can imagine what they were thinking when they saw that Japan made that deal … They were like, ‘Oh man!,” he added, underscoring that Koreans “very much” want to make a deal.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With the recent trade deal between the U.S. and Japan being agreed upon, this is now putting pressure on the ROK to get their own trade deal done before the August 1st deadline set by the Trump administration:

 South Korea will take into account details of a recent trade deal reached between the United States and Japan in a bid to use it as a possible reference for Seoul’s trade negotiations with Washington, the presidential office said Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday (local time) that Washington had reached an agreement with Japan to cut proposed reciprocal tariffs on Japanese goods from 25 percent to 15 percent, adding the deal also includes Tokyo’s $550 billion investment pledge.

South Korea is also seeking to reduce 25 percent reciprocal U.S. tariffs, as well as sectoral tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, through a comprehensive trade proposal ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline set by the Trump administration.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it seems like the ROK will likely sign a deal with at least a 15% tariff rate so their imports remain competitive against Japan.

This is the first time I have heard of an abuse of power allegations where a national assemblyman had aids do household chores for them. For all the things for a cabinet nominee to resign over, being too lazy to dump your own trash was not on my bingo card:

Gender Equality Minister nominee Kang Sun-woo stepped down Wednesday amid criticism over alleged workplace abuses during her time as a lawmaker.

Kang has come under fire during her parliamentary confirmation hearing for various allegations, including having legislative aides perform her household chores, such as disposing of food waste at her home.

“I offer my sincere apologies to the people for the pain I have caused,” Kang said on her Facebook page. “I humbly accept the criticism and will live with self-reflection.”

“I am truly sorry to President Lee Jae Myung, who trusted me and gave me this opportunity,” she added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the real question is does South Korea really need a Gender Ministry? What do they really do?

Horrible flooding tragedy currently going on in South Korea:

Seventeen people have been killed and 11 have gone missing in the heavy rains and landslides that began across South Korea four days ago, the government said Sunday.

The data from the interior ministry and the National Fire Agency, as of 6 p.m. Sunday, also showed that a large portion of the toll — 10 dead and four missing — occurred in the southern county of Sancheong.

The other deaths occurred in Osan and Gapyeong in Gyeonggi Province; Seosan, South Chungcheong Province; and Dangjin, South Chungcheong, and the southwestern city of Gwangju.

Firefighting officials said rescue work was still under way in Sancheong, which could lead to a change in the toll.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

According to the article, unsurprisingly the Korean woman in this altercation was drunk. Some people really should not drink, especially when traveling overseas:

A video of a Korean woman assaulting a Vietnamese woman at a self-photo booth in Hanoi has gone viral online, sparking outrage among local residents, according to news reports Wednesday.

The Vietnamese victim revealed the incident in her social media post on Tuesday, saying she and her friend were using the booth around 9 p.m. on July 11, after paying properly and within their allotted time.

A Korean woman approached them while they were taking photos, and according to the victim, told them to hurry up and come out.

Security camera footage shows the Korean woman striking the victim on the arm and a full-blown physical altercation began when she snatched her hat. The two women grabbed each other’s hair. Despite attempts by their companions and staff to intervene, the fight lasted several minutes.

The footage showed the Korean woman kicked the Vietnamese woman after she fell to the ground and continued assaulting her after they exited the booth.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.