President Lee Jae Myung’s summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington ended without a joint statement, breaking with the practice of past first summits, due to differences over the recent tariff deal.

According to diplomatic sources, both sides had been coordinating the wording of a summit document in the run-up to and during the summit but failed to reach a consensus. 

The dispute centered on details of the tariff deal reached in July, including the allocation of a 200 billion U.S. dollar investment package beyond shipbuilding.

Washington also reportedly pushed for specifics on sectoral investments and defense spending increases, while Seoul argued more working-level discussions were needed.

A Seoul official added that as the mutual 15 percent tariff adjustment was already noted in the agreement’s annex, it reduced the need for additional documentation.

Follow-up negotiations on both economic and security issues are expected to continue, with defense matters expected to be addressed at a security consultative meeting later this year.