South Korea and the United States agreed to craft a trade package aimed at removing new U.S. tariffs before the pause on reciprocal tariffs is lifted in July, Seoul's delegation in Washington said after a first round of trade talks.

US Treasury chief Scott Bessent says talks are ‘moving faster than I thought’, and technical terms could be discussed as early as next week.

A South Korean delegation will meet U.S. counterparts on Thursday for an opening round of trade talks, with cooperation on shipbuilding and energy expected to be on the agenda, and possibly shared defence costs,