Trouble asks for 1.5 trillion US dollars, can Europe, Japan and South Korea come up with this amount?

Is South Korea learning from Japan and the European Union?

On the 30th, Trump announced on social media that the United States has reached a trade agreement with South Korea, including South Korea's investment of 350 billion US dollars in the US, purchasing 100 billion US dollars of liquefied natural gas, and opening its market to American automobiles and agricultural products; as an exchange, the US will impose a 15% tariff on South Korea, lower than the 25% tariff rate Trump previously threatened.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol later confirmed that South Korea and the US had reached an agreement, stating that 1.5 billion US dollars of the 3.5 billion US dollars in investment South Korea has promised will be used as special funds for South Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation.

Notably, if we include Japan and the EU's previous commitments to invest in the US, the amount of investment Trump is demanding from Japan, South Korea, and the EU has already reached 1.5 trillion US dollars - but after reaching agreements with Trump, Japan and the EU have both denied their respective investment commitments, saying "we do not have the ability to invest so much money in the US" and "investment is the affair of private enterprises, not related to the government".

Since Japan and the EU don't have the capability, South Korea certainly doesn't either. On the 29th, the International Monetary Fund just lowered its forecast for South Korea's economic growth by 0.2 percentage points compared to the prediction in April, and Yoon Suk-yeol also admitted in a speech at the National Assembly that South Korea's economy "has fallen into the depths of despair".

Therefore, from the perspective of South Korea's own economic situation, its commitment to invest in the US is more like a hollow check to appease Trump.

The Korean media "Hankook Ilbo" pointed out that one of the important reasons why South Korea hurriedly reached an agreement with the United States is that the US and Japan have already reached a deal, which made South Korea feel "increased pressure", forcing it to urgently adjust its negotiation plan towards the United States.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839124586261580/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.