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President Lee Jae-myung signs the guestbook at the White House in Washington, D.C., on September 25, as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on. / Source: Yonhap News

The presidential office said Wednesday that South Korea and the United States are “in the process of narrowing differences” over key issues in their ongoing tariff negotiations, raising hopes for a breakthrough before the APEC summit in November.

“The government is working to make substantial progress through the Washington visits of the presidential policy chief and the trade minister,” the presidential office said in a statement. “However, as we have always emphasized, we will not rush under a deadline but negotiate with the national interest as our top priority.”

The comments came after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told CNBC on October 15 (local time) that Washington was “close to finalizing” its tariff negotiations with Seoul, adding, “The devil is in the details, but we are resolving them.”

His remarks were interpreted as referring to the ongoing discussions over the specifics of South Korea’s proposed $350 billion (about 502 trillion won) investment package in the United States.

In September, Seoul presented a revised financial plan to Washington for the investment package. While the U.S. has insisted that the entire $350 billion be executed in cash, South Korea has argued for flexibility in the ratio of direct investment, citing potential volatility in its domestic foreign exchange markets.

The revised proposal reportedly includes Korea’s preferred investment composition as well as a call for an unlimited U.S.–Korea currency swap arrangement.

Meanwhile, Presidential Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom and Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan departed for Washington on Thursday morning for follow-up negotiations on the tariff talks.

Their trip follows visits by Trade Negotiations Chief Yeo Han-koo on October 14 and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yoon-chul on October 15, as top economic and trade officials from both the presidential office and the government converge in Washington, fueling expectations of an imminent deal.