South Korea's Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday, a South Korean official said, in an encounter that was not previously announced. The meeting followed Kim's Thursday discussions with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, during which they addressed a special bill that South Korea's parliament approved the same day to enable implementation of a $350 billion investment pledge in the United States.
A South Korean official confirmed the private meeting with the U.S. president, which earlier had been reported by a national news outlet, but declined to provide additional details about the session. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the encounter.
Kim's office said that during his meeting with Vice President Vance on Thursday he emphasized that the bill's approval in Seoul's parliament demonstrated the government's strong commitment to carrying out the investment agreement reached between the two countries' leaders. According to the South Korean account, Vance welcomed the passage of the legislation, describing it as establishing the legal conditions required to implement the investment deal.
The passage of the bill comes against a backdrop of earlier pressure from President Trump. In late January, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on South Korean goods to 25%, citing the absence at that time of enacted legislation in Seoul that he said had capped U.S. levies at 15%. Kim's office said Vice President Vance called for continued close communication between the two governments as they move to put the investment agreement into effect.
The South Korean confirmation of the unannounced meeting with President Trump and the statements from Kim's office on Thursday underline diplomatic momentum around the implementation of the investment framework. At the same time, limited publicly available information about the Friday meeting and the lack of an immediate White House response leave specifics of the discussions unclear.
Contextual note - The information in this report is based on official statements from South Korean authorities and the absence of an immediate response from the White House; no further details about the meeting have been provided.