The presidential office said President Lee Jae Myung cannot sign off on something that would incur massive losses for South Korean businesses to meet the deadline as Seoul and Washington have yet to finalize details on their framework trade agreement.

A high-level official from the top office told reporters on Tuesday that the president is adamant that meeting the deadline should not adversely affect national interests.

The official said the administration is determined to engage in the ongoing negotiation with a focus on national interests despite experiencing a negotiation impasse with a particular nation for the first time.

The official said national interests are also directly linked to the interests of companies, stressing that firms' pledged investments in the United States are about making money, not about handing it out to Americans.

The president is firm in his conviction that the government cannot force companies to fulfill whatever Washington demands, and Seoul will not push ahead with something that could cause the businesses to incur losses, the official said.