Yeo Han-koo Dismissed at Midnight: What Happened Amid Denials It Is Related to Negotiations

[Anchor]

Yeo Han-koo, the head of trade negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy who has served as the working-level commander for South Korea-U.S. customs negotiations, has been suddenly dismissed. Concerns are rising that this may disrupt not only ongoing trade negotiations with the United States but also other pending trade issues.

Reporter Sim Useop has the details.

[Reporter]

President Lee Jae-myung dismissed Yeo Han-koo, head of trade negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, effective at midnight today (the 15th).

While dismissal, which unilaterally strips a political public official of their status, is an unusual measure, neither the Presidential Office nor the Ministry has disclosed specific reasons.

Former Chief Negotiator Yeo served as the Director-General for Trade Policy and Head of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry during the Moon Jae-in administration, and was reappointed as the head of trade negotiations following the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.

Since then, he has led the South Korea-U.S. customs negotiations and handled sensitive trade issues such as the U.S. Section 301 investigation and the Coupang issue.

[Yeo Han-koo / Head of Trade Negotiations (March) : Both sides have formed a consensus that faithfully implementing the tariff agreement we reached last November will help stabilize the trade and investment relationship between South Korea and the United States.]

At a time when the United States is intensifying pressure on the South Korean government to speed up investments in the U.S., concerns are mounting that the sudden vacancy of the top trade negotiator could disrupt negotiations with Washington.

Following the imposition of a 12.5% tariff on South Korea due to the use of forced labor under Section 301 of the Trade Act, the U.S. is currently conducting an investigation to levy overcapacity tariffs, while the Seoul government is negotiating with the U.S. to ensure that the combined tariffs do not exceed 15%.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "In accordance with the personnel measures of the appointing authority, we will make every effort to ensure there are no disruptions to pending trade issues."

While opinions are emerging in government circles that the dismissal is unrelated to the negotiations with the U.S., former Chief Negotiator Yeo's side reportedly expressed a position that it is reviewing legal responses against false claims.

(Video Editing: Oh Young-taek, Design: Park Chun-woong)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.