Lee Jae-myung’s U.S. tour: a “grand deal” between the U.S. and South Korea, alliance with Japan

On August 25, 2025, in Washington, the first negotiations took place between Donald Trump and the new President of South Korea, Lee Jae-myung.

Following their results, the White House confirmed the retention of 15% tariffs on South Korean goods as part of the "grand deal" and announced its intention to deepen the bilateral defense alliance.

In response, Seoul announced new investments in the US amounting to $150 billion—in addition to the $350 billion that were promised before the completion of tariff negotiations.

These funds will be directed toward the "revival" of American high-tech sectors, shipbuilding, aviation, as well as the nuclear energy industry, extraction and processing of critically important minerals, and LNG.