Sejong/Seoul, Aug. 1
South Korea's top trade negotiator said Friday that further opening of the Korean rice market was not discussed in the recently concluded trade deal with the United States, refuting Washington's claim on the politically sensitive issue.
Finance Minister of South Korea Koo Yun-cheol, who doubles as deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs, made the remarks upon returning from his US trip to clinch the deal, along with Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo.
Koo reiterated the Seoul government's earlier position on the rice market, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the trade deal provides market access to American rice, echoing US President Donald Trump's earlier claim, news agency reported.
On Thursday, the two countries struck an agreement under which the US lowered its reciprocal tariff rate for South Korea to 15 per cent from the initially proposed 25 per cent in return for Seoul's pledge to invest US$350 billion in the world's largest economy and purchase $100 billion worth of American liquefied natural gas and other energy products over the next four years.
Rice and beef imports were originally considered key sticking points in tariff negotiations between the two sides, but Thursday's trade deal did not include the issues, according to the Seoul government.
The US administration had reportedly pressured Seoul to further open up its rice and beef markets, raising issue with Korea's import ban on American beef products from cattle aged 30 months or older.
The presidential office also confirmed that the deal does not include further market opening in farm products, though details on inspection or quarantine procedures would require further negotiations and coordination between the two sides.
"We have already opened 99.7 per cent of our agricultural and livestock markets, and it is our position that there will be no additional opening for the remaining 0.3 per cent, and that stands," presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters. "It seems there may have been some misunderstanding on the US side.