South Korean president says his country can't afford Trump's demands [View all]

Source: The Hill

09/22/25 9:29 AM ET


South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in an interview with Reuters that his country cannot afford to meet President Trump’s demands that it invest $350 billion into America in exchange for the removal of punishing tariffs.

“Without a currency swap, if we were to withdraw $350 billion in the manner that the U.S. is demanding and to invest this all in cash in the U.S., South Korea would face a situation as it had in the 1997 financial crisis,” Lee told Reuters through a translator, explaining the demands would plunge the country into a financial crisis.

“Reaching detailed agreements that guarantee commercial reasonableness is now the central task — yet it also remains the biggest obstacle,” Lee said. Trump said Korea’s investment projects would be selected by him, and the country would have discretion on how their money would be used.

Lee also said many in his country were angered by the “harsh” treatment workers at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia faced during a recent immigration raid, warning it could make other companies wary of making in investments in the United States. “I do not believe this was intentional, and the U.S. has apologized for this incident, and we have agreed to seek reasonable measures in this regard and we are working on them,” he said in the interview.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5515351-lee-jaemyung-on-trump-tariffs-investment/