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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is in Tokyo to hold his first full summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in a visit largely aimed at showcasing friendly ties between the two Asian neighbours that now face common challenges from America, their mutual ally. Lee's visit Saturday comes in an unusual order putting Japan ahead of the United States helping him to better prepare for his crucial first summit in Washington with US President Donald Trump, mainly on trade and defence issues. His Tokyo visit before Washington is well received by Japanese officials who see it as a sign Lee is placing great importance to relations between the two neighbours whose ties have been repeatedly disrupted by historical disputes, hampering their trilateral coordination with Washington. For Ishiba, who faces pressure from rightwing rivals within his governing party to resign over its July election loss, Lee's visit and a successful summit could shore up his support. Rintaro Nishimura,
When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. I did a recent haul to stockpile, she said. I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months. South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25 per cent duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for ...
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that it remained unclear whether Seoul and Washington could conclude their tariff negotiations by the deadline set by President Donald Trump for next week, noting Thursday that both nations were still working to clarify their positions and identify areas of agreement. Speaking at his first news conference since taking office last month, Lee also reiterated his intentions to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea, though he acknowledged that mutual distrust between the Koreas is too deep to heal anytime soon. Trump's tariff hikes and other America First policies are major challenges for Lee's month-old government, as are North Korea's advancing nuclear programme and domestic economic woes. Lee, a liberal, came to power after winning a snap presidential election caused by the ouster of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated imposition of martial law in December. Lee calls tariff talks with US clearly not easy Lee said the
Japan and South Korea are marking the 60th anniversary of the normalisation of their diplomatic relations Sunday. The two Asian powers, rivals and neighbours, have often had little to celebrate, much of their rancour linked to Japan's brutal colonial rule of Korea in the early 20th century. Things have gotten better in recent years, but both nations each a strong ally of the United States now face political uncertainty and a growing unease about the future of their ties. Here's a look at one of Northeast Asia's most crucial relationships, from both capitals, by two correspondents from The Associated Press. The view from Seoul South Korea's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, is determined to break sharply from the policies of his disgraced predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, who now faces a trial on charges of leading an insurrection over his imposition of martial law in December. Relations with Japan, however, are one area where Lee, who describes himself as a pragmatist in foreign .
South Korea's liberal-led legislature on Thursday passed bills to launch special investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law in December and criminal allegations against his wife, targeting the ousted conservative a day after his liberal successor took office. The bills were previously vetoed by Yoon and South Korea's caretaker government after his December 14 impeachment over the martial law debacle. The bills are expected to be signed by new President Lee Jae-myung, a Democrat who won Tuesday's snap election triggered by Yoon's formal removal from office in April.
South Korean officials have asked the Trump administration to exclude their country from US plans to impose aggressive tariffs on trade partners, emphasizing that Seoul is already applying low duties on American products under the free trade agreement between the two nations. South Korea's government on Friday said Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won made the request while travelling to Washington this week for meetings with unspecified officials from the White House, the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative. The South Korean Trade Ministry didn't say what Park heard from the Americans. Park cited how South Korean companies were contributing to the US economy through large-scale business investments and noted that the country was already imposing low duties on free trade partners such as the United States. He called for South Korea to be excluded from US plans to establish reciprocal tariffs with trade partners and raise duties for imported steel and .