Out of sync? Envoy to U.S. makes unusual trip back home while policy chief downplays diplomatic concerns. 

Seoul’s envoy to Washington made an unusual five-day trip back to Korea to brief officials on challenges facing Korea-U.S. ties, even as a senior Blue House official dismissed speculation of a bilateral falling out, suggesting a split within the government over U.S. policy.

While diplomatic and security officials have grown increasingly concerned as U.S. frustrations build over a range of bilateral issues, economic policymakers have continued to express optimism.

In a television interview on Sunday, presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-beom repeatedly denied that Ambassador Kang Kyung-wha's temporary return indicated a deterioration in Korea-U.S. relations.

The interview came the day after Kang returned to her post in Washington.

Asked about Korean investment in the United States, the most pressing issue between the two countries, Kim stressed that Washington "understands that Seoul is making steady progress."

"Washington understands that we have enacted the special law for investment in the United States, established an investment corporation for U.S. projects and are hiring personnel to move forward on an appropriate scale," he said.

Kim also dismissed criticism that Korea has been slower than Japan on investment commitments, saying that Japan "reached an agreement with the United States before we did and it does not need legislation."

Kim likewise rejected suggestions that policy was being affected by internal divisions between officials favoring a stronger alliance with Washington and those advocating greater strategic autonomy.

"That's not the case," he said, saying that the first investment project in the United States should materialize in August or September.

On the other hand, while in Korea, Kang focused on briefing senior government officials on the mood within the U.S. administration — a message seemingly oddly out of sync with Kim.

It is highly unusual for Korea's ambassador to the United States to return home outside of summit meetings or other official diplomatic events — a reason officials believe that the visit was intended to convey the growing sense of urgency in Washington to officials responsible for U.S. investment and other key issues.

As a result, the presidential office effectively projected confidence about the bilateral relationship on the very day the ambassador returned to Washington after warning officials of mounting concerns.

Kang returned to Korea on Wednesday and met with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. The next day, she attended a standing committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), which had been expanded to include officials from economic ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

According to officials familiar with the meeting, participants shared — in detail — the concern on the ground in Washington that if pending issues such as the Coupang controversy, Korea’s revised network act and Korean investment in the United States become protracted, they could eventually affect security talks between the allies.

"The expanded NSC attendance was intended to help officials from the government's economic agencies better understand U.S. concerns," a source who requested anonymity said. "There were in-depth discussions about the need for the government to manage these contentious issues comprehensively."

The concerns are even more pronounced among officials in Korea's diplomatic and security establishment.

"It is rare for Korea-U.S. relations to have become this strained," a diplomatic source said. 

A ruling party official, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said that even when Seoul explains that pending disputes fall under the jurisdiction of individual ministries or involve domestic procedural issues, the prevailing view in the United States is that the problems "happened under President Lee Jae Myung's administration anyway."

Diplomatic observers say friction over the Coupang case and implementation of the revised Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection — combined with backlash from supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again movement over the arrest of pastor and conservative activist Son Hyun-bo for election law violations — has increased pressure on the overall bilateral relationship.

They also cited the Justice Ministry's July 1 decision to extend the departure ban on Morse Tan, who served as ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice during the first Trump administration, through July 31 as another factor that could deepen distrust among U.S. conservatives.

Tan is accused of defaming President Lee during a press conference in Washington last year.

Diplomatic officials also offered a sharply different assessment from Kim on Korean investment in the United States, the issue widely viewed as the most sensitive in the bilateral relationship.

"Among the various pending issues between Korea and the United States, investment is the one Washington considers most important," a diplomatic source who requested anonymity told the JoongAng Ilbo. "But the plans still lack concrete details."

U.S. officials have repeatedly conveyed that Korea needs to announce its first investment project as soon as possible and that implementation has been moving too slowly through channels including the White House and the State Department.

Washington sent Seoul a list of candidate investment projects in May, effectively passing the initiative to Korea. The government, however, has yet to select the first project as it continues reviewing commercial viability and other considerations.

Against that backdrop, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan is scheduled to depart for the United States on Wednesday.

Kim's official itinerary includes attending the opening ceremony of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center in Washington on Wednesday and holding follow-up discussions on bilateral shipbuilding cooperation.

However, because he is expected to meet again with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, observers say the trip is also intended to ease Washington's frustration over delays in Korean investment commitments and other outstanding bilateral issues.

BY YOON JI-WON [[email protected]]