The country’s new president, in office for a little over a month, had just dispatched his senior deputies to Washington to try to work out a trade deal.

"Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Korea a tariff of only 25 percent on any and all (South) Korean products sent into the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs. Goods transshipped to evade a higher tariff will be subject to that higher tariff," Trump said in the letter posted on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said on Monday he would impose the tariff on goods from South Korea starting on August 1, posting a letter to President Lee Jae Myung on his social media platform along with one to Japan's leader.