The presidential office and the government are on full alert regarding the U.S. reciprocal tariff of 25 percent set to take effect on August 1, after Washington and Tokyo struck a deal for the U.S. to reduce the tariff rate for Japan from 25 to 15 percent.

Washington reportedly agreed to impose a 15-percent tariff on Japanese auto imports, including the existing two-point-five percent, in return for Tokyo agreeing to open its auto and agricultural produce markets and to make a large-scale investment in the U.S.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Seoul was in the process of discerning details of the U.S.-Japan agreement, and that it plans to refer to the outcome in its ongoing negotiation with Washington.

Mentioning the nation's top security, trade, economy and energy officials who are scheduled to hold talks with the U.S. this week, the spokesperson said the government will engage in negotiation with the nation's interests as its priority.

Some observers suggest that the presidential office and the government in Seoul now face a heavier burden of generating a better outcome than Tokyo, especially as the neighboring countries have a similar economic and industrial system, as well as export structure.