South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan met U.S. officials in Washington to address trade and industrial issues as Seoul faces rising pressure from U.S. tariff actions and Section 301 investigations. Kim held talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday and Tuesday on potential investment projects in the United States and their timelines, with both sides seeking to narrow differences, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said. He is also scheduled to meet U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer to discuss bilateral trade issues, including a Section 301 investigation (a U.S. trade-law probe into unfair practices), and to urge stable communication channels. Another meeting with Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, is set to cover follow-up measures tied to U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry and ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in that sector. The trip came two days after chief trade negotiator Yeo Han-koo was dismissed. Seoul is also awaiting the expected month-end outcome of a U.S. Section 301 probe into alleged overproduction, while Korea is subject to a new 12.5 percent tariff under a wider U.S. measure covering 60 trading partners and is among 16 economies being investigated over alleged excess industrial capacity under the same law.