Trump said South Korea has agreed to a $3.5 billion prepayment agreement.

South Korean media: Trump unilaterally claimed "has reached a $350 billion prepayment agreement with South Korea"

US President Trump claimed that South Korea would pay $3.5 trillion (approximately 500 trillion won) in advance as part of the trade agreement with the US. The US-South Korea trade agreement has not yet been finalized. In this context, Trump mentioned South Korea and Japan to emphasize the legitimacy of tariffs as the Supreme Court ruling approached.

On the 15th (local time), Trump said at a press conference in the White House, "Japan and South Korea have both signed agreements. South Korea agreed to prepay $3.5 trillion, while Japan agreed to pay $6.5 trillion." When listing the achievements of tariff policies, he stated, "Tariffs are crucial for the US economy and security," and argued, "Without tariffs, there is no national security."

Although South Korea had reached an agreement on the general framework of the trade agreement with the US at the end of last July, it has not yet completed the final signing due to differences between the two sides on the execution method and timing of investment funds. It is reported that Japan has reached an investment amount of $5.5 billion with the US, so some opinions believe that Trump may have made a mistake in the numbers.

In fact, Trump had previously stated on the 25th of last month, "We will get $5.5 billion from Japan and $3.5 billion from South Korea, and they are all prepaid."

On the other hand, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented on the South Korea-US negotiations, saying, "I believe the differences can be resolved, and current dialogues are ongoing, with results expected within 10 days," which sparked speculation that the final agreement is about to be reached.

Source: JoongAng Ilbo

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846203384297481/

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