Following President Trump's announcement to go ahead with the steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Korea's trade ministry held a meeting this morning in Seoul.
Our business correspondent Kim Hyesung was there.
Hyesung, what were some of the discussion points at the meeting?
Mark, Korea's Minister of Trade, Energy and Industry Paik Un-gyu presided over the emergency meeting at ten this morning to discuss countermeasures to Washington's import tariffs on steel.
Participants included government officials and local steel makers like POSCO and Hyundai Steel.
First, Minister Paik expressed his regret over Washington's decision, saying it goes against free trade, and expressed concerns that if the tariff measures really go into action, it will negatively affect Korea's steel exports, especially steel pipe exports that rely heavily on the U.S. market.
He said the government will continue to try to persuade Washington to exempt Korea from the import tariff measures through two main approaches.
Trade representative Kim Hyun-jong will continue meeting his U.S. counterpart Robert Lighthizer and other Washington officials to explain Korea's stance.
The other approach is cooperation with other countries.
The trade ministry said Korea will work with other countries and express its concerns about rising global protectionism to try to stop a looming trade war at mulilateral meetings like the G20 finance ministers' meeting slated for later this month.
Seoul will also look into possibly taking the case to the WTO.
Lastly, Paik said the trade ministry will cooperate with the private sector to improve the steel industry's competitiveness and minimize the negative impact of the tariffs.
That's all I have for now.
Back to you, Mark.