Anchor: A day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on South Korea, the White House confirmed with KBS that Trump made the announcement because Seoul has made no progress in fulfilling its end of the bilateral trade deal reached last year. Trump has since indicated that the situation will get worked out.
Rosyn Park reports.

Report: 

[Soundbite: US President Donald Trump]
Reporter: “Are you introducing tariffs to South Korea?”
Trump: “We’ll work something out. We’ll work something out with South Korea.”

With a Marine One helicopter waiting to pick him up to deliver a speech in Iowa, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday that his administration will work out a solution with South Korea.

He did not elaborate on what that might mean. 

His remarks came a day after he made a surprise announcement about increasing tariffs on imports from the U.S. ally to 25 percent.

In response to a KBS query regarding the planned tariff hike, the White House reiterated Trump’s position that the move is due to a delay in South Korea’s legislative procedures supporting the implementation of the bilateral trade deal struck last year.

A White House official said that while Trump has cut tariffs, South Korea has made no progress in fulfilling its end of the bargain.

Under the deal, Seoul agreed to invest 350 billion dollars in strategic U.S. industries, among other pledges, in return for tariffs being capped at 15 percent.

A special bill to put the investment in motion is pending in the National Assembly, but some lawmakers said they expect it to pass by late February or early March.

Aside from tariffs, trade tensions between the two countries have also been simmering over what Washington sees as discriminatory regulations targeting Coupang, which is at the center of a massive data breach case in South Korea, and other U.S. tech firms.
Rosyn Park, KBS World Radio News.