South Korea says it must hold further talks with Washington before a promised reduction in U.S. import tariffs on Korean cars can take effect, leaving a 15 % duty—due to replace the current 25 % rate on Thursday—in doubt.
South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told parliament on Wednesday that Seoul and Washington “need additional consultations” to set a start date for the lower tariff on car exports to the United States.
The uncertainty follows President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that most South-Korean goods, including vehicles, would face a reduced 15 % levy as part of a wider trade accord with a key Asian ally. The new rate is scheduled to begin on Thursday, but Kim said no timetable had been finalised.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said he would travel to Washington this week to urge the White House to sign an executive order that would similarly lower U.S. duties on Japanese cars.
Kim added that the two countries would keep talking about proposed online-platform legislation to ensure U.S. technology companies are treated on a par with domestic operators, an issue that “remains a major concern” for U.S. officials and businesses.
No deal was reached on opening South Korea’s farm market to more U.S. beef, rice or fruit, but the minister agreed to streamline quarantine inspections—regarded in Washington as a non-tariff barrier. Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the United States had pressed for “a rational and scientific” clearance process for produce exports.
The tariff dispute comes as South Korea, the world’s seventh-largest exporter, seeks to balance its security alliance with the United States against economic ties with China, its biggest trading partner.
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A “Victory will be ours” banner was hung on the Russian Embassy in Seoul, ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It remains on display despite a request from the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Sunday (22 February) for its removal, sparking widespread criticism.
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday after a court found he obstructed authorities from arresting him following his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.
South Korea’s defense ministry summoned Japan’s defence envoy to object to the annual white paper published in Tokyo, which made a territorial claim over disputed islands located in the East Sea.
Panic erupted on a Seoul subway train after a man allegedly set a fire onboard, prompting the evacuation of over 400 passengers through a tunnel and sending 21 people to hospital with minor injuries.
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing. The storms triggered landslides and widespread flooding, displacing thousands across Juiz de Fora and Uba.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Syria’s economy is showing clear signs of recovery, with economic activity accelerating in recent months, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.
The United States has deployed the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford near Israel as part of a growing military build-up amid tensions with Iran, while governments around the world urge their citizens to leave parts of the region.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
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Four people were killed and six detained after armed Cuban exiles aboard a Florida-registered speedboat were intercepted at sea on Wednesday, drawing swift reactions from Washington, Havana and Moscow.
Speaking during a closed-door deposition in New York on Thursday (February), former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she did not “recall” ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had “no knowledge of his crimes”.
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