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Seoul calls for fairness as Washington opens probe into manufacturing excess

Published: 12 Mar. 2026, 19:20 Updated: 12 Mar. 2026, 19:22

SEO JI-EUN
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Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Eui-hae, right, poses with Michael DeSombre, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affaris, ahead of their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul on March 12. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

Korean diplomats on Thursday called on Washington to guarantee fairness in a sweeping new trade investigation, warning that the probe into excess capacity in manufacturing could undermine the "balance of interests" at the heart of the bilateral economic partnership.

The concerns were raised during high-level diplomatic talks in Seoul as Michael DeSombre, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, sat down with his Korean counterparts, including Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Chung Eui-hae, for the first time in Seoul.

The meetings focused on advancing the bilateral joint fact sheet — the comprehensive economic and security road map agreed upon by both nations' leaders in November of last year.

But the day's diplomatic tone was complicated by a coincidence.

Just as the Korean National Assembly announced and passed special legislation to legally underpin Seoul's landmark $350 billion investment pledge to the United States, Washington announced that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) would launch a Section 301 investigation into "structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors" across 16 economies, including Korea.

"We emphasized that the balance of interests already agreed upon between the two countries must be respected," a senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters after the talks. "We specifically requested that South Korea should not receive less favorable treatment compared to other nations, a point the U.S. side said they understood."

Seoul indicated that both governments agreed to handle the probe carefully to prevent it from rippling into the broader alliance relationship. Korean trade officials plan to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to submit formal comments ahead of the April 15 deadline and participate in a public hearing scheduled for May 5.

Beyond trade, Seoul pressed Washington on the slower-moving security components of the joint fact sheet.

While Korea raced to deliver on investment commitments — a move the U.S. described on Thursday as a "very positive development" — progress on the sensitive defense and nuclear cooperation issues has been slow.

The security agenda includes cooperation on Korea's ambitions to develop nuclear-powered submarines and revisions to the two countries' nuclear energy pact. Talks on these issues, originally pencilled in for January, have been repeatedly delayed by the Middle East crisis and political currents within Washington.

"All elements cannot move at the same speed, but they must move with a sense of balance so that they drive each other forward," the senior Foreign Ministry official said. "It is not desirable for one side to lag behind and hold back the other."

To break the impasse, Rim Kap-soo, Seoul's government representative for the nuclear cooperation task force, is set to travel to Washington for discussions with officials from both the State and Energy departments.

The diplomats also revisited a long-simmering tension over nontariff barriers, including U.S. concerns over Korean regulatory action against Coupang — the U.S.-listed e-commerce platform that derives most of its business from the Korean market.

Seoul acknowledged that Coupang remains a point of concern for Washington, but pushed back on the suggestion that its actions amounted to targeted discrimination.

"We explained that these are not measures targeting a specific company but are consistent with how we handle issues like data breaches," the official said.

Both sides agreed that such regulatory issues should be managed through ongoing communication to avoid derailing the broader joint fact sheet process.

On the question of the Middle East, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that Washington made no requests for Korean military support during Thursday's meetings.

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]