Anchor: Kim Yong-beom, the top office's director of national policy, and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan began the latest round of high-level tariff negotiations with the U.S. Donald Trump administration. Seoul hopes that a shipbuilding pact will help facilitate the process and expects that the two sides might finalize a trade agreement within the next ten days.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: Kim Yong-beom, the top office's director of national policy, landed in Washington on Thursday for high-level talks with the U.S. government.

Kim expressed his hope that the Trump administration would exercise more flexibility and reflect Seoul's position in its negotiations.

[Sound bite: Director of National Policy Kim Yong-beom (Korean-English)]
"We've also told [the U.S.] that the South Korea-US summit on the sidelines of the APEC is very important, and we're also looking forward to it. As for the U.S. expectation of a result in ten days, it's not a bad sign, as they're likely scrutinizing our negotiations. We hope the US will be more flexible in reflecting our position."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a press meeting on Wednesday that he expected the ongoing discussions to produce results "in the next ten days" but declined to comment on Seoul's request for a currency swap agreement as part of the package, saying the matter was under the purview of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The national policy director, along with Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, held a meeting with Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, during which the two sides discussed concrete steps of the Seoul-proposed Make American Shipbuilding Great Again(MASGA) project.

Because the Trump administration appears to have high hopes that a pact with Seoul will help revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry, the MASGA initiative could provide leverage to the South Korean side at the negotiating table.

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, who is also in Washington to attend Group of 20 ministerial meetings, told reporters that the Trump administration appears to be demanding that Seoul deliver the 350 billion U.S. dollars it pledged in July as an up-front payment.

Koo, who also discussed South Korea's investment method with Bessent, said that although the secretary is aware of Seoul's position, it is uncertain whether he could persuade Trump to accept it.

The minister said he had relayed Seoul's concerns that such an upfront payment could undermine the stability of the country's foreign exchange market.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.