Director of Trade Headquarters: "Closely Monitoring New US Administration and Establishing Response Plans for Each Issue"

Jung In-kyo, Head of the Trade Negotiation Department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated on the 10th, "The government is closely monitoring the formation of the new U.S. administration's cabinet and policy directions, and is establishing response measures for each issue."

On the same day, Jung held an expert meeting at the Trade Security Management Institute with key trade and international relations experts to discuss responses to the new U.S. administration's trade policies.

Jung In-gyo, Director General of Trade Negotiations, Ministry of Industry. (Photo by Jung In-gyo)

This meeting was organized to share the government's preparation status as the inauguration of the new U.S. administration approaches in about a month, and to further specify response strategies through in-depth discussions between senior officials of the Trade Negotiation Department and trade experts.

The attending trade experts anticipated significant changes in the new U.S. administration's foreign policy compared to the previous term and urged the government to respond calmly and meticulously. Professor Lee Seung-joo of Chung-Ang University, who presented at the meeting, forecasted that "as the policy line of President-elect Trump becomes mainstream within the U.S., foreign policy will gain strong momentum, with a high possibility of implementing universal tariffs and restructuring the multilateral trade order." Professor Lee advised that to effectively respond to these changes, preparations should be made for a transactional approach based on a strengthened network of the new U.S. administration compared to the first term.

Head Jung said, "The Korea-U.S. relationship is closely linked through large-scale investments by our companies in advanced technology and supply chains. Based on this, we will continue a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship and minimize negative impacts on our companies." He added, "We plan to establish a thorough intergovernmental cooperation system to ensure that recent domestic uncertainties do not affect our response to the new U.S. administration's inauguration, and to maintain close communication with our companies."