President Lee Jae-myung said on Nov. 14, “Korea-U.S. trade and security negotiations, one of the biggest variables for the Korean national economy and security, has been finally concluded.”
In a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, President Lee said, “A joint fact sheet on what Korea and the United States agreed on for the past two summit talks has been worked out.”
President Lee extended thanks to people who believed and fully supported the government, businessmen who joined forces with the government, and government officials who devoted themselves to the national interests.
President Lee offered words of thanks and honor to U.S. President Donald Trump, saying, “President Trump’s rational decision has played a bigger role than any to work out meaningful outcomes of negotiations like this, since there is a need for a good partner.”
President Lee said both governments confirmed they would proceed with investments to a level Korea’s economy can sustain and in projects with commercial feasibility, and it dispelled misgivings that they might amount to virtual grants disguised as investments in projects that have a return on investment (ROI).
“Both governments will build a cooperative partnership to a level different from the previous, which encompasses areas ranging from conventionally strategic industries, such as shipbuilding and nuclear power, to future advanced industries, such as AI and semiconductors,” he said.
“As in the past, the United States helped Korea, now we, the Republic of Korea, will join forces in rebuilding core industries of our ally, the United States.”
President Lee said, “Through the negotiations, Korea and the United States have agreed to join forces to build a nuclear-powered submarine, an essential strategic asset, sought for by Korea for a few decades to ensure peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and we’ve succeeded in securing the U.S. government’s support to expand Korea’s right to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel.”
Both sides agreed to explore institutional reform steps to allow the shipbuilding of not only U.S. commercial ships but U.S. Navy ships in Korea, and it would lay foothold to “make the Korean and U.S. shipbuilding industry great again,” he said.
President Lee said the United States reconfirmed its commitment to stationing U.S. forces in Korea and extended deterrence and declared its willingness to approve and support Korea’s initiative to strengthen its military capabilities and regain wartime operational control from the United States.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan has a question & answer session at a joint briefing on the Korean and U.S. governments’ signing of an MOU on strategic investments at the Government Seoul Complex on Nov. 14. (Photo: MOTIR)
In a news briefing, Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan said the Korean and U.S. governments struck an MOU on strategic investments on Nov. 14, based on the agreements on the operation of investments worth a combined $350 billion.
“The signing of the deal came three months after both sides reached “a big picture agreement” on tariff negotiations on July 3 and strategic investments are outcomes of the fierce negotiations that could not be predicted until the day of reaching an agreement,” Minister Kim said.
The $350 billion in overall investments consists of $200 billion of investments and $150 billion in the shipbuilding sector.
As for the $200 billion won of investments, the U.S. president will select investment projects at the recommendation of the U.S. secretary, head of an investment committee, and the investment committee will recommend to the U.S. president commercial feasible investments after an advance, consulting on them with a committee, led by the Korean MOTIR minister.
The investment areas will encompass shipbuilding, energy, semiconductors, medicines, core minerals, AI and quantum computing, and the period of selecting the projects will last until January 2029 when President Trump’s term ends, Kim said.
_한미 무역통상 협상 및 안보 협의01.jpg)
_한미 전략적 투자에 관한 양해각서 서명 관련 브리핑.jpg)
