US State Department confirms meeting between South Korean and US foreign ministers, but no mention of tariffs

According to Financial News, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who is visiting the United States amid tariff retaliation by the Trump administration, met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the 3rd (local time) at the State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. The United States stated that they discussed ways to advance the ROK-US alliance, but it did not refer to the tariff issue.
On the 3rd, the United States Department of State posted a press release from the Office of the Spokesperson on its website, saying that the two ministers "discussed ways to maintain the strength of the ROK-US alliance." According to the Office of the Spokesperson, Secretary Rubio expressed appreciation for "South Korea’s leadership in building, securing, sustaining resilience, and diversifying critical minerals supply chains." It also said the two ministers, building on the spirit of last year’s two bilateral summits, "discussed ways to further develop the ROK-US alliance around a future-oriented agenda."
The Office of the Spokesperson added that the two ministers "agreed to work closely together on civil nuclear energy, nuclear-powered submarines, shipbuilding, and expanding South Korean investment to help rebuild key U.S. industries." It went on to say that they "reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea" and "also emphasized the importance of trilateral cooperation among the United States, Japan, and South Korea to maintain regional stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific."
The State Department’s announcement made no mention of President Donald Trump’s retaliatory tariffs. Although Trump concluded a trade agreement with South Korea in October last year, on the 26th of last month he announced that he would raise the reciprocal tariffs imposed on South Korea from 15% to 25%. He argued that this was "because South Korea’s legislature did not turn our historic trade agreement into law."
Before departing for the United States on the 3rd, Minister Cho spoke to domestic reporters at Incheon International Airport about the tariff issue. He said, "Under our National Assembly’s procedures, what the two governments agreed upon is in the process of being implemented through legislation, so I will explain this clearly to the U.S. side and seek their understanding." Minister Cho added, "I plan to deliver the same message not only to Secretary Rubio, whom I will be meeting, but also to other U.S. government officials, especially members of the U.S. Congress," and continued, "Kim Jeong-gwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, returned yesterday and called to tell me that he had explained our situation well to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and that it was understood."
pjw@fnnews.com Reporter Park Jong-won Reporter