Anthony Kuhn
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Semiconductors account for more than a third of South Korea's exports and investment in AI data centers has boosted chip demand.
Government concerns about a strike prompted the country's labor minister to step in and mediate between the two sides.
Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.
Secretary Besant announced his trip in a post on X. Besant is expected to continue pushing Japan and South Korea to prop up their currencies in order to cut their trade surpluses with the U.S.
and maintain the dollar's dominance as the global reserve currency.
In Seoul, Besant will also meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to finalize arrangements for President Trump's summit with China's leader Xi Jinping.
In Busan, South Korea, last year, Trump and Xi reached a one-year truce in their trade war, with the U.S.
reducing tariffs in exchange for China purchasing more American products such as soybeans and airplanes and pausing export controls on rare earths.
The two sides are expected to try to extend or renegotiate that truce.
Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.
An explosion hit the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship operated by a South Korean shipping company on Monday.
A fire then broke out in the engine room, but there were no injuries.
President Trump said that Iran had fired on the ship and said that's why South Korea should join Project Freedom, intended to escort merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
But Iran's embassy in Seoul said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the explosion.
Seoul said it did not need to consider joining Project Freedom, as Trump himself announced its suspension after about two days.
The ship is being towed to a dock in Dubai and a South Korean government team has been sent to investigate.
has deployed missiles to the Luzon Strait near Taiwan and near the South China Sea, both of which are regional flashpoints.
This year's Balikatan drills, as they're called in Tagalog, are the biggest ever, including troops from seven nations.