Choi: "Support for industries affected by vehicles and expanded supply of Chosun RG... Sequential announcements starting next week"

Choi Sang-mok Hosts Meeting with Public and Private Research Leaders
"Need to Propose Strategies to Capture Opportunities Amid Trade Changes"

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, said on the 3rd, "The government is preparing measures to mobilize all available means to support industries expected to be affected, such as the automobile sector, and to expand the supply of shipbuilding RG (Refund Guarantee) to capture opportunity factors," adding, "We plan to announce these sequentially starting next week."

Yonhap News

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Choi held a meeting at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, with heads of six public and private research institutions, including the Korea Development Institute (KDI), the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Hyundai Motor Research Institute, POSCO Research Institute, and Samsung Global Research, to examine the impact of the U.S. reciprocal tariffs on the Korean economy and discuss response measures.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi stated, "In the early hours today (local time on the 2nd), the U.S. government announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs by country," and added, "This is a serious situation where trade risks are becoming a reality." He continued, "According to the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump, a 25% reciprocal tariff has been imposed on Korea," emphasizing, "It is necessary to conduct a precise analysis of the impact on our economy and industry and, based on this, seek support measures for affected sectors and strategies for negotiations with the U.S." He also urged, "Active roles from research institutions, which are the 'think tanks' of our economy, are needed."

The heads of the public and private research institutions stressed the urgent need for the government’s immediate response to minimize the short-term economic and industrial shocks. In particular, they pointed out the importance of focusing on export support such as trade finance and export vouchers, and emphasized that the government should swiftly implement the recently announced essential supplementary budget of around 10 trillion won. They also advised that fundamental strengthening of industrial competitiveness through technological innovation is necessary to overcome challenges surrounding our industries, such as the U.S. tariff shock and competition from China. They explained that public-private cooperation is crucial to overcome trade hurdles.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi agreed with the opinions of the research institution heads. He added, "In the current situation of high uncertainty, it is important for the public and private sectors to respond as a 'one team' based on accurate analysis to prevent excessive anxiety in the market," and urged, "Research institutions should actively propose response measures during the process of preparing strategies to capture opportunity factors amid changes in the trade environment."