With the Korea-US tariff negotiations concluded, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on July 31 that the bilateral meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol and US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant will proceed as scheduled.
Through a press release, the Ministry stated, "Deputy Prime Minister Koo and Secretary Besant will meet as planned," adding, "The significance lies in the fact that this is a meeting between the finance ministers of the two countries, separate from trade matters."
The meeting between the two sides is scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. local time on July 31 (10:45 p.m. Korea time), and will take place at the US Department of the Treasury building in Washington, DC.
Originally, the meeting was arranged as part of the tariff negotiations. However, US President Donald Trump personally announced the conclusion of the negotiations after meeting the Korean negotiation team at around 5 a.m. Korea time on the same day.
Although the tariff negotiations have been concluded, Deputy Prime Minister Koo, who is visiting the US for the first time as the new head of Korea's economic team, decided to proceed with the meeting with the US Treasury Secretary as scheduled. It is reported that the two sides will discuss overall economic cooperation, including exchange rate issues.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo arrived in Washington the previous morning and joined the negotiation team. About three hours after his arrival, he began his first meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. On the same morning, together with Minister Kim and Director Yeo, he visited the Department of Commerce to conduct the final coordination of differences with Secretary Lutnick and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamison Greer.
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