PM meets with presidential chief of staff, ruling party chief over US tariffs

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, center, poses with Rep. Jung Chung-rae, chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, right, and Kang Hoon-sik, President Lee Jae Myung's chief of staff, for a high-level consultation meeting between the ruling party, the government and the presidential office at the residence of the prime minister in central Seoul, Feb. 8. Yonhap

The prime minister held talks with key ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers and the presidential chief of staff Sunday to discuss a special bill on implementing Korea's investment pledges to the United States and other pending issues, officials said.

The meeting, held at the residence of the prime minister, came as rival political parties agreed last week to establish a special committee to handle the investment bill amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hike threats.

"A delay in passing the special bill on Korea's strategic investment in the U.S. also affects follow-up measures related to tariff negotiations," Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said at the meeting, expressing hope that the bill would be enacted swiftly.

Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik also called on the National Assembly to accelerate its legislative efforts to pass the special investment bill and other key legislation related to people's livelihoods.

During the meeting, DPK Rep. Jung Chung-rae called for swift passage of the special bill to ease concerns among Korean companies, stressing the need for the government, the DPK and the presidential office to "work as a team" for the success of the Lee Jae Myung administration.

A high-level consultation between the ruling party, the government and the presidential office is held at the residence of the prime minister in central Seoul, Feb. 8. Yonhap

Last month, Trump threatened to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and auto, lumber and pharmaceutical duties on Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, citing a delay in the parliamentary process to pass a special investment bill facilitating the implementation of a trade deal reached by the two countries.

Under the trade deal, Korea has committed to investing $350 billion in the U.S., among other pledges, in return for the U.S. lowering reciprocal tariffs on Korea to 15 percent from 25 percent.

At Sunday's meeting, the officials also discussed the government and the DPK's move to ease restrictions on so-called dawn delivery, or late-night and early-morning delivery services, for the country's large discount store chains.

"Rationalizing regulations on online delivery by large retailers, thereby bringing convenience to the public and strengthening the competitiveness of the local retail industry, has become a task that we can no longer delay," Jung said.

Earlier this month, the DPK proposed a bill that will allow big-box store chains to operate online businesses for 24 hours so that they would be able to do overnight delivery services.

The bill was part of efforts to map out "win-win" measures for offline stores and online shopping platforms. But labor groups are opposed to the legislative move, citing an increase in nighttime work hours.