Overview
- He began a five-day visit including Washington and New York, with meetings planned with senior officials, House members, and Korean residents.
- Talks are being arranged for a possible meeting with Vice President J.D. Vance, which his office has not confirmed.
- It is his first overseas trip as prime minister and the first standalone U.S. visit by a South Korean premier since democratization in the late 1980s.
- The visit follows a November understanding to lower U.S. “reciprocal” tariffs on Korean goods to 15% in return for a US$350 billion investment pledge by Seoul.
- U.S. actions under discussion include a 25% tariff on certain AI chips, potential new duties on memory chips from firms without U.S. plants, and a push for country-specific chip tariff deals.