In South Korea, fury at US fuels backlash over trade deals

In the span of 24 hours last week, President Donald Trump managed to roil South Korea and Japan, two longtime allies that less than two months earlier had said they would invest a combined nearly $1 trillion in the United States in exchange for lower tariffs.

- DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI RIVER AKIRA DAVIS

On Sept 4, US immigration officials raided the construction site of a major Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia, a flagship project by two of South Korea’s most prominent companies. Hundreds of South Korean citizens were arrested and detained for, according to federal officials, living or working in the country illegally.

On the same day, Trump signed an executive order enacting a trade deal he had struck with Japan in July, committing Japan to invest $550 billion in the United States. The order codified the reduced automotive tariffs that Tokyo had desperately sought. However, it came with a memorandum of understanding between the two countries stating outright that Trump, not Japanese officials, will select how the $550 billion will be invested. If Japan goes against his wishes, he will have the right to impose higher tariffs.

These events were the latest display of how Trump is using the negotiations over trade to pursue his agenda, despite the diplomatic, political and economic consequences for America’s closest allies.

In Japan and South Korea, increasingly vocal leaders in government and business feel their countries were strong-armed and are questioning whether it still made sense to comply with Trump's demands.

While Seoul worked to bring home more than 300 South Korean workers, Chosun Ilbo, the country’s conservative daily newspaper and traditionally an advocate of a strong alliance with the United States, argued that its government must “recognise the seriousness of the situation.” In an editorial Monday, the newspaper urged officials to convey to the United States that the South Korean public is now questioning whether it should continue investing in America.