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Gov't, PPP trade blame over sudden hike in U.S. tariffs

Published: 09 Feb. 2026, 20:43

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok answers questions from lawmakers during a government questioning held by the National Assembly in western Seoul on Feb. 9. [NEWS1]

The government and the conservative People Power Party (PPP) traded blame over a sudden hike in U.S. tariffs during a National Assembly interpellation session on politics, diplomacy, unification and security in western Seoul on Monday.

While the PPP argued that the government and the ruling party had neglected a special bill on investment in the United States that directly affects national interests, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok countered that the situation was “100 percent due to delays in legislation” on the first day of the parliamentary government questioning.

During questioning, PPP lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun asked Kim whether he agreed with a remark by Kim Yong-beom, the head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, that pressure from the United States to raise tariffs was “100 percent due to delays in legislation.”

Prime Minister Kim answered, “We have confirmed that it is 100 percent the case,” to which Yoon countered, “But hasn't the government and the ruling party rushed through bills as they did with the special counsel legislation, the so-called Yellow Envelope Act and the bill to dismantle the Prosecutors’ Office? Why would you leave the investment bill, which is directly linked to the benefit of the nation, unattended?”

“We do not believe the bill was neglected,” the prime minister said. “The opposition party also raised the issue of whether it should go through National Assembly ratification.”

As exchanges continued over pressure from the United States to raise tariffs, tempers flared between PPP lawmakers and the prime minister.

“It was highly unusual for the United States to seek to raise tariffs to 25 percent so soon after a summit between President Lee Jae Myung [and U.S. President Donald Trump]," said PPP Rep. Park Choong-kwon. “This is not how an ally should be treated.”

Prime Minister Kim shot back by asking whether Park was criticizing Korea or the United States. When the prime minister said he “did not understand the point” that Park was trying to make, Park responded curtly by asking whether the prime minister “didn't understand what he was hearing.”

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun answers questions from lawmakers during a government questioning held by the National Assembly in western Seoul on Feb. 9. [LIM HYUN-DONG]

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that the United States is seeking to raise tariffs on Korea to reduce its trade deficit if there is no progress in negotiations over nontariff barriers.

According to Cho, Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative (USTR), told him during a recent visit to the United States that although Washington had asked the Korean government for investment and improvements to nontariff barriers, investment had progressed slowly since agreements between the two leaders, and additional talks on nontariff issues had not gone well. Greer showed a chart summarizing U.S. trade deficits with various countries and stressed “the need for swift consultations,” according to Cho.

Asked by Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Hu-duk whether President Lee had given special instructions to form a working-level team to prepare negotiations with the United States before passage of the U.S. investment special bill, Cho replied that this was the case and said the minister for trade is “seeking to speed up consultations with the Office of the USTR.”

A U.S. negotiating team will visit Korea in February to discuss follow-up measures to agreements reached between the two leaders, including the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines and revisions or adjustments to the Korea-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement, according to Cho.

“We confirmed during talks with U.S. Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] that an interagency team would be sent to Korea,” said Cho.

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 YANG SU-MIN [[email protected]]