South Korea seeks to utilize areas of shipbuilding and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as leverage in upcoming tariff talks with the United States, Seoul's top diplomat said Thursday.
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul made the remarks on the final day of his three-day trip to Vietnam this week as South Korea prepares to hold negotiations with the US over Washington's reciprocal tariffs next week.
"The projects President Donald Trump himself mentioned are shipbuilding and LNG," Cho told reporters. "These are sectors that require countries like South Korea or Japan, so we have leverage in our own way."
Earlier this month, Trump said he discussed tariffs, shipbuilding, the purchase of US LNG and a range of other issues as areas of potential cooperation in phone talks with South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo.
Cho said the US administration appears to be prioritizing talks with a few countries, and that Seoul and Hanoi have agreed to "closely" communicate over the issue, such as sharing the results of their negotiations with Washington.
Cho met top Vietnamese officials this week, including President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and conveyed concerns South Korean companies based in Vietnam have over the US tariffs.
The Trump administration announced imposing 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs on South Korea and 46 percent on Vietnam earlier this month, though they have since been put on pause.
Cho said he expressed hopes for Vietnam to hold fruitful negotiations with the US, noting that such results for Hanoi would be beneficial for South Korea's economy. (Yonhap)
