“Washington lobbying firm crowded with Koreans curious about Trump”

Amid efforts by countries to line up for former President Donald Trump in preparation for his possible return to power, Reuters reported on the 24th, “K Street is asking what will happen to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and what Trump’s thoughts on trade are.” “It’s crowded with Koreans who are curious about what it’s like,” he said. K Street, located close to the White House in Washington DC, is a place where a large number of law firms, lobbying companies, and consulting companies that are closely related to US politics and relations are concentrated. Ahead of the November presidential election, we are facing a ‘big problem’, and US allies, including Korea, are said to be a ‘big hand’ here.

On this day, Reuters quoted a former Korean government official in Washington as saying, “Biden is keeping an eye on foreign governments, so Seoul (Korea) prefers to read Trump’s thoughts through a lobbying firm.” This is called a ‘stealth manner’, and like a stealth fighter that is not caught by radar, it is said that it is moving ‘low-key’ to build a connection with Trump and understand Trump’s position on trade issues. This contrasts with Japan, where the Liberal Democratic Party’s Vice President Taro Aso, a former prime minister and political powerhouse, is expanding contacts despite the Biden administration’s threats, such as visiting Trump Tower in New York on the 23rd and meeting with Trump. Korea has contracts with large law firms such as ‘Brainstein Hyatt Faber Schreck’, which earned $16.2 million (approximately 22.3 billion won) in the first quarter of this year alone.

The Biden administration is touting the IRA as its representative political enemy, but Trump and those around him are negative about this. This is because Biden released massive subsidies while promoting a ‘green agenda’ such as development of eco-friendly energy and distribution of electric vehicles, and this is seen as the main cause of entrenched inflation. In an interview with this newspaper in January of this year, Pole Dance’s general director, who compiled the American Heritage Foundation’s ‘Project 2025’, which is known as the so-called ‘Trump pledge book’, said, “It is positive that foreign companies have invested heavily in the country, but only some local politicians in Washington benefit. He said, “Congress must really make a lot of effort to abolish or amend the IRA.” If Trump succeeds in coming back to power and the abolition of the IRA becomes a reality, the impact on Korean companies operating in the United States, such as Hyundai Motors, is expected to be inevitable.

Japan is known to use about 20 lobbying companies to contact US politics and relations, and in February it signed a new contract with Ballard Partners, a Florida-based lobbying firm known to be close to Trump. A senior official at this company said, “Many of our company’s employees have maintained a long-standing friendship with former President (Trump).” Other U.S. allies are also busy trying to build a line with Trump. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently had dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home and discussed Ukraine, Israel, and the Hamas war. Germany, where Trump expressed negative views several times during his term in office, is said to be contacting pro-Trump lawmakers and emphasizing that “Germany is investing heavily in the U.S. economy.”