FM Cho to visit Japan, US this week for talks with counterparts: sources

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun plans to visit Japan and the United States later this week to hold talks with his counterparts of the two countries, diplomatic sources said Monday. Cho is expected to make a two-day trip to Tokyo starting Tuesday and meet one-on-one with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, before flying to Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday (U.S. time), the sources said. If confirmed, they would mark Cho's first bilateral talks with his respective Japanese and U.S. counterparts since taking office early last week. Japan's Kyodo News also reported Monday that Seoul and Tokyo were fine-tuning the details for Cho's visit to Japan. Cho's likely two-nation swing comes as Korea's tariff negotiations with the U.S. are at a critical juncture this week amid the looming Aug. 1 deadline set by the Donald Trump administration. Unless a trade deal is reached, Korean goods will be subject to a 25 percent U.S. reciprocal tariff and sectoral duties. Top Seoul officials have been racing to strike an agreement to reduce the steep tariffs and minimize theWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times