In the wake of the United States' import restrictions and steep tariffs on foreign producers, some speculate that Washington's trade policies are intentionally targeting South Korea.
Cha Sang-mi looks at the link between trade and national security.
The United States' ever stronger trade protection policies are causing concern for its trading partners,... and South Korea -- considered a strong ally of the U.S. -- is no exception.
The U.S. has been using a variety of tactics to restrict imports, from anti-dumping rules to recent safeguard measures against Korean-made steel and washing machines.
And with the recent thaw in relations between the two Koreas, some say too much pressure on trade may hurt mutual cooperation on security.

"Theoretically, the national security and trade issues should be separate, but the Trump Administration's policies demonstrate that the national security issue impacts the trade issue."

The expert says Seoul and Washington do not see the links between the two issues in the same way.
Another expert says trade and national security are two sides of the same coin, and that President Trump may be trying to kill two birds with one stone by restricting imports from South Korea.

"U.S. government or Mr. Trump are considering a solution all together - the North Korea's nuclear threat problem and South Korea's trade continuous surplus against the United States in a single shot."

The expert says the true intentions of the U.S. are revealed in the import restrictions Washington continuously imposes on Seoul, taking into account the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea is nowhere near the size of its deficits with Japan and China.

And it all comes back to the KORUS FTA, a six-year-old trade deal between Seoul and Washington.
Experts say that taking into account Trump's remarks about withdrawing the United States from the agreement back in September, and difficulties cooperating in terms of renegotiation, the economic pressure could grow in the future.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.