Donald Trump to hold trade and defense talks with South Korean President on August 25
In return for cutting threatened tariffs of 25 percent to 15 percent, Trump said on July 31 that South Korea would "give" to the United States $350 billion for investments and buy $100 billion of energy products.
Trump also said that South Korea agreed to invest an additional "large sum of money", the level of which would be announced when President Lee Jae Myung visits the White House.
Lee's office said that the meeting would be about developing the alliance into a "future-oriented comprehensive strategic partnership" in response to the evolving global security and economic environment.
Trump and Lee will discuss cooperation "in manufacturing sectors such as semiconductors, batteries and shipbuilding, as well as in economic security partnerships covering advanced technologies, critical minerals and other areas," spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.
South Korean officials have said that Seoul's commitment to help the United States revive its shipbuilding industry was instrumental in reaching the trade deal.
South Korea's shipbuilding industry is the world's second-largest following China, with the United States lagging far behind both.
Washington is also increasingly looking to overseas shipyards to strengthen its Asia-Pacific military operations, positioning South Korea as a key defence partner.
In 2024, Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea's largest shipbuilders, became the first non-US company authorised to conduct dry-dock maintenance on a US Navy vessel.
The leaders' summit will be their first since Lee's election in June, which followed the impeachment of his predecessor after he declared martial law.
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