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| ▲ Foreign Minister Cho Hyun speaks during a National Assembly session in western Seoul on Jan. 28, 2026. (Yonhap) |
FM-Trump tariffs
Trump's message on hiking tariffs on S. Korea unrelated to Coupang issue: FM Cho
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's recent warning of a tariff hike on South Korean goods appears unrelated to what it claims to be a discriminatory probe by Seoul into e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. or other online platform issues, Seoul's top diplomat said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun made the remarks during a parliamentary session, dismissing suspicions that Trump's social media post this week, which signaled raising reciprocal tariffs from 15 percent to 25 percent, was linked to Washington's dissatisfaction with a South Korean investigation into Coupang's data leak.
"From what we've gathered from our contact with the (U.S.) State Department after (Trump's) message, we have concluded that there is no direct connection to Coupang or (the proposed) online platform bill," Cho said at the National Assembly.
The government is pushing for a bill aimed at preventing major platform operators, such as Naver, Kakao, Google and Apple, from abusing their market dominance through unfair practices or by exerting undue pressure on smaller merchants that operate on their platforms.
U.S. lawmakers and other figures have expressed concerns over such regulatory moves against online tech firms and called for adhering to the joint summit agreement in which Seoul has committed to ensuring no unnecessary barriers in digital services.
They have also denounced the way Seoul is handling the data breach of the U.S.-listed Coupang that has affected more than 33 million South Korean users, calling it a discriminatory approach and political witch hunt.
On Monday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would increase the tariff rate on autos, pharmaceuticals and others to 25 percent from the agreed-upon 15 percent, taking issue with a delay in the legislative procedures in Seoul for the implementation of the trade deal.
Trump said Tuesday that his administration will "work something out" with South Korea.
"Another message (from Trump) has come out. I think it clearly reflects the nature of the U.S. administration," Cho said.
"Unfortunately, seeing how the U.S. government has changed has led me to believe that we, including both the ruling and opposition parties, need to respond accordingly."
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