Overview

• Seoul and Washington have not formalized their July verbal framework linking tariff relief to about $350 billion in Korean investment due to disputes over project control, profit terms and commercial guarantees.
• Lee says current proposals offer no assurance of commercial viability, while Trump has asserted the United States would select and control where the investments go.
• South Korea has proposed a dollar swap line to cushion large outflows, noting Japan’s deal benefits from higher reserves, an existing U.S. swap and an internationalized currency.
• Lee said the U.S. apologized after an immigration raid detained more than 300 Korean workers at a Georgia battery site and called the action overzealous enforcement rather than a directive from Trump.
• Lee will address the U.N. General Assembly and chair a Security Council meeting in New York, with no meeting with Trump planned, and separately told the BBC he could accept a temporary freeze on North Korea’s nuclear production.