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![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6a9521c0-b4a4-11f0-885f-31ec668fe78e.jpg.webp.webp\")
Getty Images<\/p>\nKoh Ewe,Singapore and <\/p>\n
Kathryn Armstrong,London<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
The meeting comes as both countries are still trying to reach a trade deal<\/p>\n
The US and South Korea have reached a broad trade deal, both countries have said following talks between their leaders. <\/p>\n
South Korea’s presidential aide, Kim Yong-beom, said the two sides will reduce reciprocal tariffs from 25% to 15%, as was agreed earlier this year. <\/p>\n
South Korea will also invest $350bn in the US, including $200bn in cash investment and $150bn in shipbuilding, Kim said. <\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump, who is currently on a week-long trip in Asia, said the deal was “pretty much finalised” at a dinner following the discussions, which lasted almost two hours. He did not give further details. <\/p>\n
“We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea”, Trump said of his discussions with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, adding that “a lot was determined”.<\/p>\n
“We discussed some other things to do with national security et cetera. And I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items.”<\/p>\n
Both sides had played down the prospect of a breakthrough ahead of Wednesday’s talks – disappointing many in South Korea’s electronics, chip and auto industries, which had been hoping for some clarity amidst the tariff chaos. <\/p>\n
Trump had slapped a tariff rate on Seoul of 25% earlier this year – which Lee managed to negotiate down to 15%, after Seoul said it would invest $350bn in the US and buy $100bn worth of liquified natural gas.<\/p>\n
But the White House later increase its demands as part of the trade talks, with Trump pushing for cash investments in the US.<\/p>\n
Both countries have historically been key allies – but tensions spiked after hundreds of South Koreans were detained in an immigration raid in the US last month.<\/p>\n
Trump will next meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in on Thursday on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) which is taking place in Gyeongju.<\/p>\n
China’s foreign ministry has confirmed the meeting, which will take place in the city of Busan on Thursday, a short flight away from Gyeongju. <\/p>\n
The US president said on Wednesday that he was “looking forward” to the meeting.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been talking a lot over the last month and I think we’re going to have something that’s gonna be very, very satisfactory to China and to us.”<\/p>\n
This will be the two leaders’ first face to face meeting since Trump assumed office in 2025 and imposed tariffs on every country in the world.<\/p>\n
Addressing a group of CEOs in Gyeongju on Wednesday, Trump said that he believes the US is “going to have a deal” with China and it will be “a good deal for both”.<\/p>\n
He also praised the Apec countries for making the global trading system, which he said had been “broken” and “in urgent need of reform”, fairer.<\/p>\n
“Economic security is national security,” Trump says. “That’s for South Korea, that’s for any country.”<\/p>\n
Golden crowns and grand orders<\/p>\n
Ahead of Wednesday’s talks with President Lee, Trump had been greeted by an honour guard and gifts that included a golden crown. <\/p>\n
“I’d like to wear it right now,” Trump had said of the crown. <\/p>\n
He also received the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest decoration.<\/p>\n
He’s the first US president to receive the award, which was given “in recognition of his contribution to peace on the Korean Peninsula”, the South Korean presidential office said.<\/p>\n
Both leaders took part in a working lunch – which was followed by a private meeting in the afternoon. <\/p>\n
![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/b740e760-b49b-11f0-885f-31ec668fe78e.jpg.webp.webp\")
Reuters<\/p>\n
The US president was gifted a golden crown and the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest decoration<\/p>\n
Trump’s arrival in South Korea had been preceded by North Korea test-firing surface-to-air cruise missiles.<\/p>\n
The US president had expressed interest in meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but noted on Wednesday that his team had been unable to arrange this during his trip.<\/p>\n
Noting the long-standing tensions between North and South Korea, Trump said “we will see what we can do to get that all straightened out”.<\/p>\n
And outside the summit venue where both leaders were meeting, a small anti-Trump group of protesters gathered on Wednesday afternoon, with some shouting anti-Trump slogans. Police could be seen forcibly dispersing the crowd and arresting some people.<\/p>\n
However, hundreds more attended a pro-Trump rally – including those who shouted anti-Chinese rhetoric – that also took place close to the summit venue. <\/p>\n
Anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea has also grown steadily in recent years. Chinese interference became a common trope in conspiracy theories about former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.<\/p>\n
![\"BBC\/Leehyun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/36248920-b49b-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.png.webp.webp\")
BBC\/Leehyun Choi<\/p>\n
Dozens of people attended a protest outside the Gyeongju National Museum on Wednesday<\/p>\n
During his trip to Japan on Tuesday, the US president signed an agreement on rare earth minerals<\/a> with Tokyo, as well as a document heralding a new “golden age” of US-Japan relations. This reiterated the commitment of the two countries to implement deals struck earlier, including the 15% tariff deal negotiated earlier this year.<\/p>\n