Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol presided over the Economic Ministers’ Meeting on the 28th at the Government Complex in Seoul. He stated, “Yesterday, we requested the National Assembly’s cooperation regarding the Special Law on Investment in the U.S.” He also urged domestic companies to innovate.
During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Koo mentioned that uncertainties are emerging around the current trade environment. U.S. President Donald Trump had previously remarked on January 26 (local time) that the South Korean National Assembly was not implementing a trade agreement, and he threatened to reimpose a 25% reciprocal tariff on South Korea. However, the following day, he switched to a “negotiation mode” by stating he would “seek a resolution with South Korea.”
Deputy Prime Minister Koo emphasized, “We will continue to closely communicate and cooperate with the National Assembly, while actively explaining our commitment to implementing the tariff agreement to the U.S. side.”
The meeting also discussed measures for stabilizing people’s livelihoods during the Lunar New Year, the rapid execution plan for the 2026 direct job creation project, major results and upcoming plans for the 2025 Korea Grand Festival, and the follow-up action plans for the 2026 economic growth strategy.
Regarding this year’s follow-up actions to the economic growth strategy, Deputy Prime Minister Koo stated, “We will make sure to implement the tasks outlined in the strategy announced earlier this January to achieve visible results early on,” and “We will prepare major measures, including the bio-industry policy roadmap, the manufacturing AI 2030 strategy, and the next-generation power semiconductor technology roadmap, within February and March.”
He further stated, “We will focus on promoting over 40% of the 133 tasks, which amounts to 55 tasks, in the first quarter, aiming for the revised tax legislation tasks like the Return to Domestic Market Account (RIA) and the National Growth Fund to pass the provisional National Assembly in February.”
Deputy Prime Minister Koo also encouraged the production of innovative products by Korean companies. He noted, “Technological innovation is key to a great leap forward in the economy,” and pointed out concerns that recently, at CES, Korea’s major corporations were not as prominent in innovative products and technologies compared to neighboring countries leading the world. He emphasized, “A lion that loses its wild instincts eventually starves to death,” and urged that the overwhelming entrepreneurial spirit that once created the semiconductor and CDMA myths should be rekindled.