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The Straits Times (30 October 2025)

Wendy Teo

South Korea went on a golden offensive to charm US President Donald Trump during his visit to the East Asian country, as the two sides finally agreed on a trade deal after months of deadlock.

The two sides had not been able to agree over the modalities of Seoul’s pledge of US$350 billion (S$453 billion) in investments as part of a framework trade deal struck in July to lower US-imposed reciprocal tariffs of 25 per cent to 15 per cent.

But the deal was “pretty much finalised”, declared Mr Trump at a dinner on Oct 29 that followed his summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum is set to be held from Oct 31 to Nov 1.

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