Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
President urges faster passage of bill on US investment as Trump steps up tariff pressure
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
Gov't to launch interim review of US-bound investment projects to speed up process
President Lee Jae Myung urged the National Assembly on Tuesday to move faster on legislation, warning that its current pace leaves Korea dangerously exposed to rising global trade pressures.
The appeal is aimed squarely at speeding up the passage of the bill related to Korea's investment in the U.S., which was introduced in the National Assembly last November.
What Washington describes as a delay has begun to test the patience of the U.S. Donald Trump administration, which warned that inaction could prompt the return of 25 percent tariffs on Korean exports.
In a Cabinet meeting, Lee said the country now faces fundamentally different conditions from the past, pointing to heightened global instability, intensifying competition among nations that is reshaping the international order, sweeping changes driven by artificial intelligence and shifts in the international system unfolding faster than forecasts can keep pace.
“With the current pace of legislation, it is extremely difficult to respond proactively to these changes in the international community,” Lee said. “To support trade negotiations with other countries, advance regulatory innovation and secure momentum for a major national transformation, a wide range of legislation aimed at strengthening Korea’s competitiveness is urgently needed.”
The president called on lawmakers to put national interests ahead of partisan considerations.
“Regardless of party affiliation, I ask you, as public servants representing the sovereign people, to unite your efforts and prioritize national interests — especially in matters concerning foreign relations,” he said.
Lee has repeatedly expressed frustration with the Assembly’s slow pace. During a Cabinet meeting on Jan. 27, he said the Assembly was moving so slowly that the government was struggling to carry out its work.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol speaks at a meeting of ministers for economic affairs at Government Complex Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
To counter the slow process at the Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol said that the government plans to activate an interim prescreening process to review potential U.S. investment projects even before the passage of the bill.
The move is intended to speed up investment reviews and implementation, as passage and enforcement of the bill are expected to take time, while also preventing unnecessary misunderstandings on the U.S. side. Koo said the interim framework is meant to avoid misperceptions and prevent any erosion of trust between Seoul and Washington.
“An additional three months or so will be required before the special act is legislated and comes into force,” Koo said in a meeting of ministers for economic affairs. “Until then, we will establish a framework that allows for preliminary reviews of candidate projects identified by both sides, to the extent possible through administrative measures.”
Under the interim plan, the ministers’ meeting will temporarily serve as a control tower in place of the fund management committee envisioned under the act. To ensure a thorough assessment of the commercial viability of candidate projects, a panel of experts will be formed under the committee.
Koo stressed that final investment decisions and execution will take place only after the special act is passed and implemented, following a comprehensive review of each project’s commercial feasibility, financial conditions and factors such as foreign exchange market conditions.
“The government will continue to strengthen communication with the United States by fully explaining the efforts being made by both the administration and the National Assembly to implement our bilateral agreements,” Koo said. “Amid a rapidly changing global trade environment, we will do our utmost to ensure that U.S.-bound investment projects become a win-win opportunity for both countries and help Korean companies secure a foothold in global value chains.”