South Korea's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon has called on his United States counterpart to have Seoul exempt from America's planned auto tariffs.

According to the Finance Ministry, Kim made the call on Saturday during his meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Buenos Aires on Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting.

The ministry said that in the meeting, Kim expressed concerns over the ongoing survey by the U.S. government on any impact of foreign cars on its national security, and strongly called for the exclusion of South Korea from the list of tariff-levying countries.

The minister reportedly said that the two countries "have made fair transactions" based on the revised trade deal, adding that additional tariffs on South Korean autos are inappropriate. Kim also stressed that the Korean auto industry has played a positive role for the United States in employment and investment aspects.

In response, Mnuchin offered continued discussions between the two nations on the matter.

The ministry said that in a separate meeting, the South Korean minister met with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and discussed ways to boost bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues.