Amb. Cho Tae-yong also said the countries are discussing various ways to offset any potential damage caused by the new U.S. law to Korean carmakers.
“President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden met three times during the U.N. General Assembly and discussed key issues between Korea and the United States,” Cho said in a meeting with reporters.
“Also, discussing our businesses’ concerns regarding the IRA at the leader level and reaffirming their serious commitment to resolving the issue is a meaningful achievement,” he added.
The IRA was signed into law last month, offering a tax credit of up to $7,500 to each buyer of a new electric vehicle (EV).
Seoul has been expressing concerns over the U.S. law as it only offers benefits to EVs assembled in North America, thereby excluding Korean-made vehicles and potentially violating the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, as well as World Trade Organization principles that imports should be treated the same as domestic products.
“The government is actively contacting U.S. Congress and administration while seeking ways to resolve the issue in a way that can best represent our interest,” said Cho.
A number of ranking Korean officials, including Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang and Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun, have visited the U.S. for talks on IRA related issues.
Turning to the U.S.-Korea alliance, Cho said U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Seoul this week will further strengthen the bilateral relationship.
“It will be Vice President Harris’ first visit (to Seoul) since taking office and the first by a U.S. vice president in four years and seven months,” he said.
“The vice president will also be visiting Korea only four months after President Biden visited Korea in May, which itself alone shows the importance the U.S. places on the Korea-U.S. alliance and its determination to be engaged in the Indo-Pacific region,” added Cho.
Harris is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Thursday (local time), following her four-day visit to Tokyo as head of a presidential delegation to the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Meanwhile, an official from the Korean embassy in Washington said the embassy has explained the recent controversy over President Yoon’s remarks to the White House National Security Council (NSC), emphasizing that neither the U.S. Congress nor President Biden were the subject of any such remarks as earlier reported.
Yoon was reported to have used vulgar language while referring to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. leader shortly after holding a pull-aside meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week.
“(We) have thoroughly explained to a ranking NSC official that those remarks did not regard the U.S., and the NSC side said they fully understood the situation and that it did not cause any problems,” the official told reporters, while speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official added, “Reports that are not based on fact may be a burden on the Korea-U.S. alliance.”
Yonhap
