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Security chief assures DP, PPP lawmakers 'no Japan-style deal'

Published: 19 Sep. 2025, 13:00 Updated: 19 Sep. 2025, 14:02

Wi Sung-lac, national security adviser, speaks during a forum hosted by the Korea News Editors’ Association at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul on Sept. 17. [YONHAP]

Seoul's negotiations with Washington to finalize a tariff deal have hit a wall, prompting frustration within the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and calls for Seoul to risk a collapse in talks rather than accept what critics see as a lopsided agreement favoring the United States.

National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac attended a bipartisan breakfast forum at the National Assembly on Thursday to review the state of diplomacy since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration. The event was hosted by Rep. Yoon Hu-duk of the DP and attended by People Power Party (PPP) Reps. Choi Hyung-du, Kim Gunn, and Ihn Yo-han, as well as DP Reps. Choo Mi-ae, Hwang Hee, Kang Sun-woo, Lee Yong-sun, Hong Kee-won, Yi Byeong-jin and Lee Jae-gang.

The discussions centered on the stalled tariff talks and the recent detention of Korean workers in Georgia.

“If we accept the existing tariff deal as it stands, our national economy will collapse. We must renegotiate from the ground up, even if it means breaking off talks," one DP lawmaker who attended the meeting said, adding, “Japan has already agreed to an unequal deal, promising $550 billion in U.S. investments. Korea must not make a Japan-style agreement."

According to attendees, Wi responded that "Korea and Japan are negotiating under very different circumstances. There will be no agreement that simply accepts such conditions. We are negotiating hard."

U.S. President Donald Trump, center, poses with members of his administration and Korea’s trade delegation for a group photo at the White House in Washington on July 30, after reaching a trade agreement. [WHITE HOUSE]

In July, Seoul and Washington reached a tentative deal to reduce U.S.-imposed tariffs on Korean imports from 25 percent to 15 percent, with Seoul pledging $350 billion in U.S. investments. But the two sides remain divided over the structure of the investments and how to share profits, preventing them from signing the final agreement.

Lawmakers at the forum also criticized the government for leaving key ambassadorial posts unfilled.

“It is inappropriate to leave ambassador positions vacant at such a critical diplomatic moment. The government must act faster," one PPP lawmaker said.

Wi reportedly replied, “We will take that advice seriously.”

In the dispute over tariffs, the liberal DP lawmakers have largely targeted the U.S. government, while conservative PPP members have criticized the Korean government’s diplomatic approach.

First-term lawmakers of the Democratic Party demand the U.S. government formally apologize for the confinement of 300 Korean workers who were detained in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Georgia during a press conference held at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 17. [YONHAP]

The DP has recently been vocal in criticizing Washington.

“The U.S. tariff hikes run counter to the principles of free trade and seriously threaten the global competitiveness of Korean companies," a group of first-term DP lawmakers said at a press conference at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

"We call on the United States to halt these unfair tariffs and guarantee a fair playing field for its allies," the lawmakers said.

A DP lawmaker on the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee told the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday, “Are we a U.S. colony? Korea is neither a reserve currency issuer nor a country with large foreign reserves. If we commit to $350 billion in investments, how can we be sure we won’t face another 1997-style currency crisis?”

President Lee also weighed in during an interview published Thursday with TIME magazine, saying he "would have been impeached" if he had agreed to Washington's demands regarding the investments.

“So I asked the U.S. negotiating team for a reasonable alternative,” Lee said.

Analysts say public opinion is swaying toward the DP's hard stance: 51 percent of 1,002 respondents aged 18 or older said the government handled the Georgia factory arrests well in a nationwide survey conducted by Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research from Monday to Wednesday, while 35 percent said it did not.

DP floor leader Kim Byung-kee also addressed the Georgia arrests on Thursday, saying, “The detentions are the result of a collapse in public discipline and a complacent administration. We must urgently restore discipline and reform the entire system.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JO SU-BIN [[email protected]]