KITA (Chairman: Jin-Sik Yoon) co-hosted a special forum with the Heritage Foundation - a well-known think tank representing the conservative side in the United States on Thursday, 28 August at KITA HQ in Seoul. The key agenda discussed during the forum was "Trump administration 2.0's economic and trade strategies and the future of Korea - U.S. relations".
* Heritage Foundation is a U.S.-based think tank founded in 1973 and is renowned for its policy research. Ever since its foundation, "The freedom of enterprises, the freedom of individuals, a small government, traditional American values and strengthening national defence" served as its guiding principles, which led to policy research and offering advice in the field of foreign relations, economy and social issues to name a few.
As this special forum was organised only days after the Korea - U.S. summit meeting, attendance was high with more than 200 representatives from companies trading with the U.S. or investing in the U.S. showed up with high interest. During the forum, in-depth discussions took place with detailed information and the direction of the Trumps administration's economic and trade policies along with how these might affect the Korean economy.
In his opening remarks, Ki-hyun Kim, the Vice President for International Cooperation at KITA mentioned, "Despite the recent settlement of a trade deal between Korea and the U.S. and a successful summit meeting, challenges still lie ahead from the perspective of companies". He added, "It is my hope that today's forum will be helpful for Korean companies in forecasting future policy directions by the Trump administration and proactively dealing with external uncertainties".
After Vice President Kim's opening remarks, Derrick Morgan, the Vice Representative of the Heritage Foundation, delivered a keynote speech, which included the future direction of President Trump's policies and his insight on how Korea - U.S. bilateral alliance will be reshaped after the recent summit meeting. He mentioned, "U.S. - Korea alliance is a time-tested bilateral alliance going beyond a military alliance after overcoming challenges over many decades, which eventually evolved into an economic and industrial alliance between countries sharing same values". He added, "In an era of fast-changing geopolitics, the two countries should add clarity to the strategic significance of the alliance and it is imperative for the U.S. and Korea to strengthen the alliance in a direction expanding cooperation between industries that complement each other".
After the Vice Representatives' speech, experts took part in a panel discussion that focused on "Changes in trade and industrial cooperation between Korea and the U.S. under Trump administration 2.0". Visiting professor Hye-min Lee from Hankook University of Foreign Studies attended the discussion as chair. He stressed, "The trade deal between Korea and the U.S. must be implemented without disruption to further the existing relation into a future-oriented bilateral relation after the recent summit meeting" and stressed, "tariff cuts on automobile and automobile parts should be implemented at the earliest day possible".