Trump Jr. to visit S. Korea next week as trade war rumbles on
23 Apr 2025 16:53
Seoul (AFP)US President Donald Trump's son will visit South Korea next week, a local conglomerate said on Wednesday, as Seoul grapples with US tariffs and its own leadership vacuum.Donald Trump Jr. "will be visiting South Korea next week", a spokesperson for South Korean conglomerate and retail giant Shinsegae told AFP, without disclosing the exact date.South Korea, a US ally and major exporter to the US, has been hit with 10 percent blanket tariffs, as well as 25 percent levies on its auto and steel exports to America.Export-dependent South Korea has suffered a leadership vacuum since December, when former president Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law. The disastrous declaration resulted in Yoon's removal.The US initially threatened South Korea with "reciprocal" tariffs of 25 percent until Trump paused his programme of levies for all countries except China for 90 days.Two South Korean cabinet ministers are due to hold trade talks in Washington on Thursday, with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul saying Seoul has "no intention to hastily wrap up" the talks.South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Trump Jr.'s visit was at the invitation of Shinsegae Chairman Chung Yong-jin and that he planned to meet key business leaders during his trip to Asia's fourth-biggest economy.Seoul announced emergency support measures for its auto industry this month, aiming to cushion the impact of US tariffs on the vital sector.The US president has also suggested that sharing the cost of around 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea to defend it against the nuclear-armed North should be part negotiations with Seoul.South Korean officials have said such discussions are off the table, although Cho said on Wednesday Seoul was open to hearing President Trump's views if he raised the subject.Trump Jr., 47, invited Chung to his father's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last December, when the Shinsegae chairman, whose grandfather founded the Samsung group, met with the then president-elect, according to Yonhap.South Korea is set to hold a snap presidential election on June 3.
Yonhap said South Korean business leaders had reportedly lobbied Chung to help facilitate Trump Jr.'s visit in order to establish a line of communication with the Trump administration.
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