
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will review and reform its trade relationship with South Korea, including the free trade pact between the two, known as KORUS FTA, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said April 18 during his visit to Seoul. The announcement came as Trump's administration finalized a broad review of the trade and currency exchange policies of major U.S. trading partners. In March, a report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative stressed that the KORUS FTA should be reconsidered. That the KORUS FTA, the second largest U.S. free trade agreement, would be under review is unsurprising. The deal was negotiated under U.S. President George W. Bush and was reworked in 2010, before taking effect in March 2012. It was lauded as benefitting bilateral trade relations and was an integral part of the U.S.-South Korea alliance restructure under President Barack Obama's "Pivot to Asia" strategy.