Korean business leaders should back Seoul’s U.S. trade talks

When South Korea’s top conglomerate leaders meet U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort this weekend, it will be far more than a social golf outing. Behind the warm handshakes and photo ops lies a delicate mission: to lend support to Seoul’s final-stage trade negotiations with Washington.

The gathering, organized by SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, will bring together the heads of Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, and Hanwha — each with significant investments and strategic stakes in the United States. For President Trump, such meetings are rarely ceremonial. He is known for turning private gatherings into stages for business pledges or investment appeals. Yet for Korea’s corporate leaders, participation reflects not only their business interests but also a sense of national duty — to reinforce the government’s efforts to secure a favorable outcome in the ongoing tariff talks.

Negotiations appear to be entering their final stretch. Seoul’s “Big Four” trade officials — Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol, Senior Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom, Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan, and Head of Trade Negotiations Yeo Han-koo — are all in Washington, signaling that a deal may be near. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently hinted that an agreement was “imminent,” suggesting that an announcement could come as early as the APEC summit in Gyeongju later this month.

According to government sources, Korea’s revised proposal — including a currency-swap arrangement, a Korean role in investment selection, and an adjustment to investment scales — has received positive feedback from Washington. In this context, the meeting between President Trump and the Korean business chiefs carries symbolic weight, if not direct negotiating leverage. The presidential office in Seoul, under President Lee Jae-myung, has said it “expects a constructive outcome.”

Corporate diplomacy has long served as Korea’s unofficial yet essential complement to statecraft. When business leaders accompanied then President Yoon to Washington last August, they pledged $150 billion in new U.S. investments — a gesture that resonated deeply with President Trump and underscored the private sector’s role in sustaining the alliance.

As the two nations edge closer to a deal, the synergy of government negotiation and corporate initiative could prove decisive. The presence of these business leaders in Florida this weekend should remind both sides that economic partnership is built not merely on policy but on confidence — the kind that comes when business, diplomacy, and national purpose align.