By the time South Korean President Lee Jae Myung placed a gold medal and royal crown in Donald Trump’s hands, it was clear Seoul understood the assignment. The flattery was lavish, the photo ops dazzling, and behind all that, negotiators were quietly trying to finalize one of the biggest bilateral investment packages in years.
Both governments said progress had been made toward a $350bn framework to boost U.S. investment, but no final deal was signed.
“We made our deal pretty much finalised,” Trump told reporters, though he didn’t provide specifics. The plan reportedly includes shipbuilding cooperation and a lowering of tariffs on South Korean cars, long a sticking point.
Kim Yong-beom, Lee’s chief policy adviser, said both sides agreed to maintain reciprocal tariffs at 15 percent, a win for Hyundai and Kia, which had been facing a 25 percent rate.
“The best deals are deals that work for everybody,” Trump said earlier at a business forum, softening his usual combative tone on trade.
The atmosphere in Gyeongju, South Korea’s ancient capital and host of this year’s APEC summit, was more coronation than negotiation. A military band played “YMCA” as Trump exited Air Force One, and lunch featured U.S. beef and a gold-dusted brownie. Lee told him, “You are indeed making America great again.” Trump, in turn, praised the ceremony’s precision: “It was so perfect, so flawlessly done.”
But beneath the spectacle, Seoul faces risk. The $350bn figure Trump wants is massive, roughly a quarter of South Korea’s GDP, and officials privately worry that such direct investment could destabilize their economy. “We haven’t yet been able to reach an agreement on matters such as the structure of investments, their formats and how the profits will be distributed,” said deputy national security director Oh Hyunjoo.
Korea has proposed a mix of loans and guarantees rather than pure cash infusions, with a dollar-swap line to manage currency flows. Trump’s negotiators, however, want firmer commitments — a pattern familiar from his recent visits to Japan and Malaysia.
Lee, addressing business leaders before Trump’s arrival, struck a globalist tone:
“At a time when protectionism and nationalism are on the rise, words like ‘cooperation’ and ‘inclusive growth’ may sound hollow. Yet it is in times of crisis like this that APEC’s role shines brighter.”
Still, the mood was far from frictionless. Tensions have simmered since a U.S. immigration raid in Georgia detained more than 300 South Korean workers at a Hyundai plant. Lee warned then that “companies would most likely hesitate to make future investments unless the visa system was improved.” Trump acknowledged the issue on Monday, saying he had been “opposed to getting them out.”
Before leaving Seoul, Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, a high-stakes finale to his Asia tour, which has mixed spectacle with substance.
“China is going to be working with me,” Trump told reporters, promising to lower some tariffs tied to fentanyl precursors.
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