Just days after Washington D.C. and Seoul signed a joint fact sheet to reset trade tensions and cease discriminatory treatment of U.S. tech companies in Korea, two senior South Korean officials are signaling they could derail the entire agreement altogether, Breitbart News reported Friday.

This is apparently to push for burdensome and one-sided tech regulations that overwhelmingly target American companies, while giving Korean and Chinese tech giants a pass, Breitbart News diagnosed.

According to Politico, the Trump administration privately warned that the U.S. was preparing to launch a Section 301 trade investigation if the South Korean government pursued these policies. However, key Korean lawmakers and regulators are poised to test Washington’s resolve.

Rep. Kim Nam-geun, who has been one of the strongest advocates for expanding South Korea’s regulatory authority over foreign tech companies, did not hesitate to publicly reject the premise of the new bilateral agreement. Kim boasted that the agreement "does not prevent South Korea from strengthening its platform regulations" and urged the government to "actively support the renewed parliamentary discussions" for comprehensive new online platform regulations targeting American companies.

Kim even referenced comments made by Kim Yong-beom, policy chief for Lee Jae-myung, who claimed that South Korea’s domestic legislation "will not be hindered" by the trade fact sheet. This statement directly contradicts the spirit of the agreement and raises new questions about Seoul's sincerity, Breitbart News pointed out.

Meanwhile, at a parliamentary hearing on November 17th, a senior official from South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) publicly called for new legislative powers to crack down on "dominant platforms," just days after the fact sheet's release. Breitbart News has previously reported on the KFTC targeting U.S. tech firms.

At the center of this aggressive stance is the newly appointed KFTC Chairman Joo Kyung-yeop, Breitbart News identified. The outlet reported that "his ideological animosity towards American capitalism is already well-known," and that "before taking office as KFTC chairman, Chairman Joo published an article titled 'Trump's Trade War is a Ploy to Hide the Ills of American Society'."

In an article published on a platform in August, Chairman Joo attacked the Trump administration as follows:

- Trump's trade war is merely a superficial ploy to conceal deep-seated ills within American society and to resolve internal problems by picking the pockets of other countries and foreign companies.

- Trump is politically exploiting this energy of anger. He chose the easy way out of deflecting blame by attacking external enemies to rally his supporters.

- "The cause of (their) deprivation of the Midwest/white workers is not beyond the border... It is the income inequality and class gap that have deepened over the past decades that are the real 'enemies' that have sickened American society."

- "The fruits of globalization have been concentrated in the hands of Wall Street financiers and Silicon Valley tech elites."

- "Trump's protectionism will lead to a synchronized recession in the global economy."

Jamison Greer of the U.S. Trade Representative's Office warned that unfairly targeting U.S. tech companies is "unacceptable," and stated that "it is not a good path for Korean regulations to treat U.S. companies more restrictively than domestic companies."

According to the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), the industry estimates that South Korea's platform regulation bills will impact the total market revenues of U.S. companies by $109 billion.

These policies also affect American consumers. A study by Competere projects that South Korea's actions will result in a $1 trillion economic loss over the next decade, with the U.S. bearing the brunt of the cost, leading to approximately $3,800 in losses per American household.

With forecasts that the Democratic Party and the Lee Jae-myung administration will reject the trade agreement with President Trump if their rebellion is completed by dissolving the People Power Party, concerns are already being raised as moves to break the agreement between the U.S. and South Korea are being detected.

Bart E. Markovitz, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cooperation at the Department of Energy, pointed out on X that "Two powerful South Korean officials are already signaling they could break the entire agreement," adding that "this is to push for burdensome and one-sided tech regulations that overwhelmingly target American companies while giving Korean and Chinese tech giants a pass."

U.S. NNP=Senior Reporter Sung Ku Hong / Special Contribution NNP info@newsandpost.com