Trump's $350B South Korea investment push stalls as deal details remain elusive

President Trump arrived in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju speaking confidently about a major investment deal with Seoul. The two countries were "very close," he said, describing the relationship as "very special" and the nations as "wedded." But behind the diplomatic pleasantries, South Korean officials were quietly telling a different story. The negotiations over a promised $350 billion investment commitment had stalled. The two sides could not agree on how the money would be structured, what form it would take, or how profits would be divided.

Oh Hyunjoo, a deputy national security director for South Korea, acknowledged the slowdown to reporters on Monday. "We haven't yet been able to reach an agreement on matters such as the structure of investments, their formats and how the profits will be distributed," she said. The gap between Trump's public optimism and the actual state of talks was stark. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking aboard Air Force One, put it plainly: a deal simply wasn't ready. "Just a lot of details to work out," he said, though he suggested the two sides remained close.

The contrast with Trump's experience in Japan, just days earlier, was impossible to miss. In Tokyo, the Japanese government had already delivered on its commitment, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announcing up to $490 billion in investment pledges during a dinner with business leaders. Trump had bonded with Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, touring an aircraft carrier with her and unveiling several major energy and technology projects that Japanese companies would fund in America. South Korea had no such victories to announce.

The stalled negotiations reflected deeper tensions between the two countries. South Korea's automakers—Hyundai and Kia—currently faced a 25 percent tariff on vehicles shipped to the United States, putting them at a significant disadvantage against Japanese and European competitors, which faced only 15 percent tariffs. More damaging to the relationship was the memory of a September immigration raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia that had detained more than 300 South Korean workers. The raid had sparked outrage in Seoul and left South Korean business leaders questioning whether investing in America was worth the risk.

President Lee Jae Myung, who had taken office in June and met warmly with Trump at the White House in August, now faced a credibility problem at home. He warned that South Korean companies would likely hesitate to make future investments in the United States unless the visa system was improved. "If that's not possible, then establishing a local factory in the United States will either come with severe disadvantages or become very difficult for our companies," he said. "They will wonder whether they should even do it." South Korea's Foreign Ministry had announced in early October that the U.S. had agreed to allow South Korean workers on short-term visas or a visa waiver program to help build industrial sites in America, but the promise had not yet translated into concrete policy changes.

When asked about the immigration raid, Trump said he had opposed the detentions and suggested that an improved visa system would make it easier for companies to bring in skilled workers. But words were not enough. South Korean business leaders needed to see actual changes in how their workers were treated before committing billions of dollars to American factories. The investment deal that Trump had promised—the centerpiece of his Asia-Pacific strategy—remained unsigned, its details unresolved, and its future uncertain. Meanwhile, Trump was preparing for a separate meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, signaling that his attention was already turning to other negotiations and other relationships.