by WorldTribune Staff, January 27, 2026 Real World News
President Donald Trump announced on Monday he is raising tariffs on South Korean imports to 25% after the country’s leftist-led National Assembly’s failure to pass a trade deal reached in July of last year.
In a post on social media, Trump said he would increase levies on South Korea from 15% across a range of products including automobiles, lumber, pharmaceuticals and “all other Reciprocal TARIFFS.”
Trump said South Korean lawmakers have been slow to approve the deal made last summer with South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung while “we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to.”
Lee’s conservative predecessor, former President Yoon Suk-Yeol, now sits in prison after attempting to investigate a disputed election that delivered a landslide for Lee’s Democrat Party.
[Trump had been silent on the turbulent South Korean political landscape until rocking Seoul on the morning of his meeting with Lee in Oval Office on Aug. 25, 2025. He posted:“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there. I am seeing the new President today at the White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”]
Following Trump’s announcement on January 26, 2026, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party (DP) said it would pass a special act on the U.S. trade deal by the end of February, according to a Yonhap report.
Spokesperson of the ruling Democratic Party Kim Hyun-Jung said five related bills have been submitted to the National Assembly and are scheduled to be reviewed, adding that “the fact that both the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party (PPP) have proposed these bills will likely expedite their passage.”
The DP currently holds 162 seats in the 300 seat National Assembly with four vacant seats, while the PPP holds 107.
Trump posted to Truth Social:
Our Trade Deals are very important to America. In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to. We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same.
South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States. President Lee and I reached a Great Deal for both Countries on July 30, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms while I was in Korea on October 29, 2025. Why hasn’t the Korean Legislature approved it?
Because the Korean Legislature hasn’t enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative, I am hereby increasing South Korean TARIFFS on Autos, Lumber, Pharma, and all other Reciprocal TARIFFS, from 15% to 25%. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Related: U.S. general holds line on access to the DMZ, challenges legislation pushed by South Korea’s Left , December 28, 2025
Related: Report: One in three South Korean lawmakers belong to suspected pro-CCP federation, December 7, 2025
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