Seoul, Jan 12 (IANS) State-run trade agencies pledged on Monday efforts to diversify South Korea’s export items and support envisioned corporate investments in the United States under a bilateral trade deal.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (K-SURE) shared such plans for 2026 at a policy briefing to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, reports Yonhap news agency.

KOTRA said it will work to diversify Korea’s export items, currently concentrated in the semiconductor, automobile and shipbuilding sectors.

The agency plans to establish 20 new teams to help with overseas certification of consumer goods in their global offices and expand overseas logistics centres for Korean firms.

K-SURE plans to offer low-interest loans worth a combined 49 trillion won (US$33.3 billion) by 2030, including an 8 trillion-won loan program for this year, for companies investing in the U.S.

Under the trade deal sealed in October, Seoul pledged to invest a combined US$350 billion in the U.S., comprising $150 billion for bilateral shipbuilding cooperation and $200 billion for cooperation in advanced industries, in return for tariff cuts.

K-SURE also plans to create a 25 trillion-won financial package for shipbuilders participating in the so-called Make American Shipbuilding Great Again initiative, while establishing a communication channel between the government, K-SURE and major shipbuilders.

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court did not deliver a ruling on Friday on the legality of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on America’s trading partners, including South Korea, despite expectations that the ruling would come this week.

As the court announced a plan earlier this week to convene a session, speculation arose that it could rule on the legality of Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose the country-specific tariffs. It does not unveil in advance what ruling it would deliver during a planned session.

On its website, the court only issued one document on a criminal case.

–IANS

na/