Seoul, Washington pursue coordinated investment and security talks
South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Jeong Eui-hye hosted Michael Disombre, the U.S. State Department’s Under Secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, during his visit to Seoul on the 12th. They held a working lunch and discussed follow-up actions to the November joint fact sheet (JFS) and broader bilateral ties, including regional and international security issues.
The two sides exchanged views on the progress of Korea’s U.S. Investment Special Act and other measures intended to implement investment commitments, with Jeong outlining advances and urging active engagement from Disombre to help accelerate security-focused elements of the JFS.
Disombre reportedly affirmed a willingness to engage and work toward deeper security consultations, while both sides stressed the need for investment and security efforts to move forward in tandem rather than one moving at the expense of the other.
The JFS previously linked economic and security cooperation, including a plan for mutual tariff reductions to 15% and commitments in security areas such as nuclear-powered submarine construction, expanded enrichment and reprocessing authority, and strengthened shipbuilding cooperation. Those elements, and the broader security dialogue, have faced delays in the past.
Trump-era tensions loomed over these efforts, as the former U.S. president criticized the delay in passing the U.S. Investment Special Act and threatened to raise mutual tariffs to 25%, contributing to a slowdown in security consultations.
Officials described the meeting as reaffirming a shared view that progress on investment and security should proceed at compatible speeds, preventing one track from “holding back” the other.
On the political front, Korea’s National Assembly passed the U.S. Investment Special Act, a development Seoul framed as a positive step that should enable faster implementation and push bilateral investment and security discussions forward.
Separately, momentum on nuclear energy cooperation persisted. Im Gap-su, Korea’s government representative for the Korea–U.S. Nuclear Cooperation Task Force, traveled from Paris, where he attended a Nuclear Energy Summit, to the United States. In Washington, he is set to meet with officials from the State Department, the Energy Department, and the National Nuclear Security Administration on November 11–12 local time to discuss expanding uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing cooperation under strict safeguards.
Originally, a U.S. delegation was planned to visit Korea in February or March, but schedules shifted, with the Korean side now traveling to the United States to advance those discussions. The exchanges reflect a broader effort to align economic, security, and energy cooperation between the allies as they navigate regional security dynamics and supply-chain resilience.