U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg says the United States is "very aware" of South Korea's concerns over the Inflation Reduction Act(IRA) which excludes electric vehicles assembled outside of North America from tax incentives.

At the 34th Korea-U.S. Business Meeting co-hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries and the American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, Goldberg emphasized Washington’s "full commitment" to its economic partnership with South Korea. He said business ties between the two allies "are strong and long standing and we want to make them even stronger."

The U.S. top envoy added that the two countries' alliance was a key pillar for the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and that he hopes to continue a close cooperation to strengthen the alliance.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin, who gave a keynote speech at the meeting, underlined that the IRA's discriminatory elements did not align with provisions of the Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization. However, he said that both countries have established a communication channel through which they were actively discussing the matter based on the spirit of their alliance.