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Kim Yong-beom (right), senior presidential secretary for policy, and Industry and Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan depart from Incheon International Airport on October 22 for Washington, D.C., to continue negotiations on U.S.–Korea trade issues. / Source: Yonhap News

South Korea’s senior presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom said Tuesday that while there has been “some progress” in ongoing trade talks with the United States, negotiations are “not yet in their final stage.”

Speaking after a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick at the Commerce Department in Washington, Kim told reporters, “We discussed the remaining issues and made some progress, but this is not the final stage of talks. As always, negotiations aren’t over until they’re over.”

Kim, accompanied by Industry and Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan, arrived earlier in the day via Dulles International Airport for follow-up discussions with Rutnick — their second meeting in six days following talks held on October 16.

Before leaving Seoul, Kim told reporters at Incheon International Airport that discussions were “quite advanced,” but warned that “one or two critical issues remain unresolved,” adding that premature optimism could jeopardize earlier tentative agreements.

The core sticking points between the two sides involve the terms of South Korea’s $350 billion investment package in the United States — specifically the proportion to be paid in cash, the timeline for capital deployment, who decides investment destinations, and how profits will be shared.

President Donald Trump said on September 25 that both Japan’s and South Korea’s investment commitments — $550 billion and $350 billion respectively — would be made “up front,” a characterization Seoul has not confirmed.