Overview

• Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Seoul and Washington have a rough agreement on security measures and may reveal it ahead of the late-October APEC meeting in Gyeongju.
• Cho indicated the security package may feature higher South Korean defense spending and looser limits on spent fuel reprocessing and uranium enrichment under the bilateral nuclear pact.
• He confirmed progress on easing fuel-cycle restrictions but described the talks as uneasy and noted that no formal written agreement has been issued.
• The linked tariff negotiations remain unresolved, with the U.S. seeking a roughly US$350 billion Korean investment package and the two sides still haggling over structure, profit-sharing and foreign‑exchange safeguards.
• Cho said the U.S. is reviewing Seoul’s request for a currency swap line but signaled low expectations, and he added that a Trump–Kim encounter during APEC cannot be ruled out.