South Korea's Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said on Saturday that Seoul plans to approach trade talks with the United States "calmly and cautiously."

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said that South Korea and the United States agreed to seek "expedient and meaningful" progress toward "reciprocal and balanced" trade during a bilateral meeting in Washington the previous day.

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,