Seoul: The South Korean government reaffirmed Friday that its trade deal with the United States does not include further opening of the country's rice market to American products. "The Korea-U.S. trade deal did not cover the rice issue," the finance, industry and agriculture ministries said in a joint press release.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the announcement came after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated that the trade deal provides market access to American goods, including rice, reiterating U.S. President Donald Trump's earlier claim on agricultural market access. On Thursday, an agreement was reached where the U.S. agreed to lower its reciprocal tariff rate for South Korea to 15 percent from an initially proposed 25 percent. In exchange, South Korea pledged to invest US$350 billion in the U.S. economy and purchase $100 billion worth of American liquefied natural gas and other energy products over the next four years.

Rice and beef imports were initially considered major sticking points in the tariff negotiations between the two nations. However, the trade deal did not include these issues, according to the Seoul government. The U.S. administration had reportedly pressured South Korea to further open its rice and beef markets, raising concerns about Korea's import ban on American beef products from cattle aged 30 months or older.

The presidential office also confirmed that the deal does not include further market opening in farm products, although details on inspection or quarantine procedures would require further negotiations and coordination between the two sides. Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung emphasized, "We have already opened 99.7 percent of our agricultural and livestock markets, and it is our position that there will be no additional opening for the remaining 0.3 percent, and that stands." Kang also noted that there may have been some misunderstanding on the U.S. side.