► Wen Observer.com Wang Yi

Recently, the United States has been increasing pressure on South Korea. On September 11th, local time, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Lutnick said on the US media Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) program that South Korea must accept the previous trade agreement with the United States, otherwise it will have to pay high tariffs. He also mentioned the surprise arrest of more than 300 Korean citizens by the United States, and mercilessly asked South Korea to apply for regular work visas.

Speaking of a series of recent dynamics in South Korea-U.S. relations, South Korean President Li said at a press conference on May 11 that in future trade negotiations with the United States, ¡°if the agreement is not beneficial to us, we will not sign it.¡±

"South Korea will either accept the agreement or pay tariffs, not black or white."Lutnik pointed out that the South Korean president hadn't talked about trade issues or signed a trade agreement before when he visited the White House, and may be the illusion that the United States would hold back concessions.

On September 11, local time, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Lutnick was interviewed by the U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) program. Video screenshot

On July 30, the United States and South Korea announced a trade agreement.South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States to purchase $100 billion worth of energy products such as liquefied natural gas, in exchange, the United States pledged to reduce the tariff rate on South Korean imports to 15% including cars.

The South Korean National Daily on September 12 that the biggest disagreement in the Korean-U.S. agreement was the $350 billion investment plan promised by South Korea, which the two sides failed to agree on its composition, way of operation and distribution of interests.

According to the initial announcement, the South Korean government¡¯s $350 billion arrangement is $150 billion for South-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation, with the remaining $200 billion invested in fields outside the shipbuilding industry such as semiconductors, nuclear power plants, secondary batteries (also known as charged batteries or batteries) and biotechnology.

On the 11th, Lutnik took the US-Japanese trade agreement just signed last week as an example, saying that once Trump approves projects such as the Alaska gas pipeline, Japan will provide project funding, while the United States is responsible for hiring construction workers, building pipelines, completing the project and generating profits, and the U.S. and Japanese governments will half-distribute profits until Japan recovers its investment, "after that, the U.S. will get 90% of the profit."

But South Korea¡¯s President¡¯s Office policy chief Kim Yong Feng said on Monday that South Korea can¡¯t accept the same terms as Japan. He pointed out that the size of the economy and the foreign exchange market environment in the two countries are completely different, Japan has a currency exchange arrangement, the yen is still a reserve currency, and the conditions will have a huge impact on the South Korean economy. And for South Korea, the current more pressing question is not who makes fund investment decisions or how to dividend, but how South Korea will recruit and manage the $350 billion investments promised from the foreign exchange market.

In another program released on the US Axios news site on November 11, Lutnik also took another wave of pressure on South Korea in recent U.S.-Korean relations.

"We like Hyundai's factories under construction, but they need to apply for appropriate visas for workers. I mean, work visas." Lutnik criticized that Korean companies had previously applied for tourist visas for workers and worked directly in factories after entering the country, which was impossible.

Lutnik said he had personally called on South Korea to issue appropriate visas for workers and told them that if they were in trouble, they could contact him directly with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Christy Norman to get the right visa.

U.S. immigration law enforcement agencies on Thursday raided South Korea¡¯s modern car and LG¡¯s new energy joint-venture battery factory in Georgia and arrested 475 workers on suspicion of ¡°illegal residence¡±, including more than 300 Korean citizens, according to the U.S. side, who were arrested for illegal entry, visa-free entry but no work permit, holding visas but delayed stay, etc. The Korean National Daily that 316 arrested Korean workers had been released and arrived at the international airport in Jiangsu.

Faced with the pressure of the United States, Lee Jae-myung said at the 100-day press conference of his inauguration on the 11th that the surprise arrest of Korean workers by the United States shocked Korean enterprises, "which will affect the investment of Korean enterprises in the United States".

On September 11, local time, Lee Jae-myung held a press conference on the 100th day of his inauguration. The Korean Presidential Press Corps

¡°Our U.S. companies are very confused that they don¡¯t have a long-term stable job yet and need technicians to build facilities, equipment and factories,¡± Li said, adding that ¡°if visa applications are rejected, these companies will face a variety of disadvantages and difficulties when setting up factories in the U.S. in the future, and they will inevitably feel anxiety, which could have a significant impact on direct investment in the U.S.¡±

Li in Ming revealed that South Korea is negotiating with the United States on investment-related visas, hoping that the problem can be solved in the future. but he turned around and warned: "In the current situation, from the perspective of our business, direct investment in the United States may be very hesitant."

As for the trade agreement that has not yet been signed, Li said in a statement that the agreement was made in order for South Korea not to be unilaterally imposed tariffs by the United States, "If it can be self-assured, why sign it? if it is not beneficial to us, why sign it?"

However, Li said that although from the current situation, the follow-up negotiations "have a long way to go," he is confident that those "rough, radical, excessive, unreasonable, unconventional remarks that appear in the negotiations will eventually return to reason."

His words did not let the South Korean public opinion let down the barbarism of the empire, the humiliation of South Korea.¡±The Korean National Daily 11th article said that the U.S. production costs are at least 30% higher than South Korea, and after more than 20 years of manufacturing emptiness, the industrial ecology has long been broken. Trump¡¯s attempt to use the ¡°imperial power¡± to force allies to reverse the historical trend is purely unrealistic.

"Taking this incident as a lesson, South Korea must make a comprehensive inventory and re-evaluation of its investment projects in the United States. On the occasion of the regime change, under the pressure of Trump, we hastily followed Japan's' set chess game 'to promote the so-called' tariff agreement ', and now we should look back calmly." The article wrote that blindly imitating Japan, a "quasi-reserve currency country" and the third largest economy in the world, may not be beneficial to South Korea. Instead of catering to the excessive demands of the United States in order to pass the customs for a while, it is better to clarify the boundary between "what can be done and what can't be done", and argue and persuade the United States accordingly.

Extended reading

On the 100th day of his inauguration, South Korean President Lee made a rare speech to the United States.

Korean streets broadcast Li in the 100 days of the press conference (Photo / Xinhua)

According to Zhongxin.com and other reports, on September 11th, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung ushered in his 100th day of inauguration. On the same day, he held a press conference for his 100-day inauguration in Cheongwadae to clarify the future direction of the government's administration. Among them, Lee Jae-myung expressed dissatisfaction with the recent raid and arrest of more than 300 Korean citizens by the United States, saying that the incident would cause Korean companies to "hesitate" when investing in the United States.

Economic recovery is urgent.

Li held his second press conference on May 11 in a hundred days since taking office.Unlike the first press conference, this conference involved more specific policies and covered many topics such as economy, diplomacy.

Li Zaiming said that the past 100 days have been a period of repairing people's livelihood economy and restoring normal diplomacy. Among them, restoring people's livelihood economy is a top priority, and the government has taken urgent measures to boost domestic demand. At present, various economic indicators have rebounded. The Korea Composite Stock Index (KOSPI) broke through 3,300 points on the 10th, and the stock market showed a recovery momentum.

It is reported that on the first day of taking office, Li Zaiming's government called for the establishment of an "emergency economic inspection working group", and then promoted the issuance of consumer coupons and the preparation of supplementary budgets to improve people's livelihood.

Li Zaiming also said that the remaining four years and nine months of his term of office will be a period of "leap and development". He promised to build a society with a solid foundation and promote the political situation of unity between the ruling and opposition parties.

Around the concerns of the outside world about the "big shareholder standard of equity transfer income tax", Li said that the issue will be handed over to Congress to discuss and introduce a policy aimed at boosting the stock market.July 31, the South Korean government proposed to lower the criteria for large shareholders to pay capital gain tax from the current 5 billion yuan to 1 billion yuan, raising public discontent.

In addition, for the failure of the DPRK to agree on the amendment of the "Special Inspection Law on Civil War", Li said that coordinated governance is the acceptance of reasonable requirements, not compromise to seek reconciliation, and to find out that the truth of the internal unrest is not a compromisable part.

According to some analysts, the rapid pace of Li's reform in the early years of power, how to minimize the side effects that follow, and prevent conflicts and intense conflicts within the government and the ruling party, is considered an important issue.

Rare dissatisfaction with the United States

On the diplomatic front, Lee Jae-myung is also facing a complicated situation. With the "arrest of people" incident casting a shadow over South Korea-US relations, how Lee Jae-myung responded has aroused concern.

Recently, U.S. law enforcement officers carried out surprise law enforcement in Georgia against South Korea's Hyundai Motor-LG New Energy Cooperative Battery Factory and related contractors, arresting 475 workers on suspicion of "illegal residence", more than 300 of whom were Korean citizens.

On September 4, U.S. immigrant law enforcement personnel launched an assault on a battery factory operated by South Korean companies in Georgia (Photo / Xinhua Daily)

In this regard, Lee Jae-myung rarely expressed dissatisfaction with the US side on the 11th, calling it "quite sudden". This is in sharp contrast to the atmosphere of "hot chat" between the presidents of the United States and South Korea during Lee Jae-myung's visit to the United States last month.

Lee Jae-myung said that this incident will inevitably lead Korean companies to be "very hesitant" when investing in the United States, and companies will worry that setting up factories in the United States may be adversely affected or become more difficult.

He also said that "cultural differences appear to exist between the Koreans and the United States," and that there are many Americans in South Korea who have a tourist visa to teach English in class, and Koreans feel nothing, but in the United States this has become a problem.

He also said that he was in talks with the U.S. to demand the normal issuance of visas related to U.S. investments, or to fight for additional quotas, or even to create new categories of visas.

Trump welcomed visiting Lee in Maine

It is that South Korean citizens arrested in the United States have been released and will return to South Korea at noon on 11 AM. The United States insists on wearing gloves when escorting in its territory, but the South has resolutely opposed, causing the original trip to be postponed.

There are South Korean political parties that say that South Korea sent to the United States "investment package" but was "bite the back of the knife", this can be called "humiliation".

Admit that there is no progress in inter-Korean relations

Li said on Monday that although the North¡¯s reaction was cold and the relations with the DPRK had not yet made progress, the government will continue to work to promote the resumption of the dialogue.

Since taking office, Lee Jae-myung's government has actively taken a series of measures, such as restricting the distribution of leaflets and dismantling loudspeakers to the DPRK, to send a signal to the DPRK to ease tensions. However, the DPRK reacted coldly to this, reiterating that "South Korea cannot become a diplomatic object".

In this regard, Lee Jae-myung admits that it is a foolish idea to expect the DPRK to change its attitude soon because of several measures to ease tension. But no matter what attitude the DPRK holds, easing tensions is beneficial to South Korea.

He also said that the Korean-Korean relationship issue cannot be solved solely by the South Korean forces, and North Korea believes that the United States is the biggest factor that threatens its security, so that promoting the Korean-American dialogue will be conducive to the realization of peace and stability on the peninsula, and the South Korean side is willing to play the role of promoting and supporting.

Analysts believe that given that South Korea has invited the US leader to attend the informal meeting of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization (APEC) to be held in South Korea in October, the meeting is expected to be an important opportunity to conduct diplomacy at the summit.