[Tariff Agreement] Kim Dongyeon: 50 Billion Won Special Fund Support, Major Diplomatic Achievement by President Lee

Gyeonggi Province will provide an additional 50 billion won in 'Special Management Funds' following the conclusion of the South Korea-US tariff negotiations. The province also plans to strengthen support for industries expected to be affected, such as cosmetics and medical devices. In addition, the budget for tariff negotiation countermeasures will be excluded from the 'reduction supplementary budget', and a special meeting will be convened to discuss further response measures.

On July 31, Gyeonggi Province announced that it had urgently convened the 'Gyeonggi Province Special Support Measures Meeting' presided over by Governor Kim Dongyeon in response to the conclusion of the South Korea-US tariff negotiations, and decided to push forward with these support measures.

Gyeonggi Province will first provide an additional 50 billion won in 'Special Management Funds'. Although the uncertainty has been resolved with the conclusion of the tariff negotiations, the province decided to support small and medium-sized enterprises within the province that are expected to suffer from the aftermath of market opening through special management funds.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dongyeon is presiding over a countermeasure meeting on the 31st at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office to discuss future responses following the conclusion of the Korea-US tariff negotiations. Photo by Gyeonggi Province

Previously, in April, Gyeonggi Province became the first in the nation to confirm support of 50 billion won in 'Special Management Funds for Companies Damaged by the Opening of the US Market'. As a result, the total amount of support has increased to 100 billion won. As of now, 39.9 billion won has been provided to 90 companies from the special management funds established in April.

Gyeonggi Province will also expand the scope of its 'Trade Crisis Response Package Support Project'. Currently, the province supports six key items?automobiles, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, and copper?as part of its trade crisis response. However, following the conclusion of the negotiations, the province expects damage in areas such as cosmetics and medical devices, and will monitor the situation to consider including these industries in the package support project.

In addition, the budget for tariff negotiation countermeasures will be excluded from the 'reduction supplementary budget', even if such a budget adjustment is implemented.

Gyeonggi Province is currently preparing its second supplementary budget. The second supplementary budget is inevitably a 'reduction supplementary budget' to secure resources such as livelihood recovery consumption coupons.

However, Governor Kim Dongyeon promised that even if various projects in Gyeonggi Province are subject to budget cuts, export support or related projects and programs for companies expected to be affected by the conclusion of the tariff negotiations will not be included in the reduction supplementary budget.

Furthermore, Gyeonggi Province plans to convene second and third special meetings in the future to support affected companies.

Meanwhile, Governor Kim Dongyeon highly evaluated the conclusion of the South Korea-US tariff negotiations for the following reasons: first, a conclusion was reached that is not disadvantageous compared to other competing countries; second, the uncertainty in the market was resolved by producing negotiation results within the deadline; third, non-tariff barriers for agricultural and livestock products such as rice and beef were well defended.

Governor Kim Dongyeon stated, "Our government negotiation team, and President Lee Jaemyung, who encouraged and guided the team by calling them late into the night, all worked very hard," and added, "The successful arrangement of the South Korea-US summit meeting is also a very welcome result."