S. Korea, US trade talks delayed due to US treasury secretary's schedule

SEOUL -- Trade talks of South Korea and the United States scheduled for this week were delayed due to an urgent schedule of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Seoul's finance ministry said Thursday.

The so-called "2+2" trade negotiations slated to be held in Washington on Friday (local time) were put off owing to Bessent's urgent schedule, and the US side proposed to hold the talks in the near future, the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance said in the spokesman's statement.

Seoul and Washington planned to set a new date as quickly as possible for the talks between South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and US counterparts Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the statement noted.

Yeo and Kim Jung-kwan, minister of trade, industry and energy, who already arrived in Washington, will have consultations with their US counterparts as scheduled, the trade ministry said in a separate statement.

The US reciprocal tariffs came into force on April 9 but were suspended for 90 days for negotiations before being halted again until Aug 1.