South Korea is the third-largest steel exporter to the United States and the world’s top importer of Chinese steel, leading to concerns it was a conduit for China’s excess capacity. “We are at a time when U.S.-South Korea cooperation is needed more than ever ahead of the inter-Korean summit and the summit between North Korea and the United States,” said a senior official at South Korea’s presidential Blue House, who was not authorized to speak to media. Lotte Group was the biggest victim of Beijing's wrath due to the fact it had signed a deal with the South Korean government to provide land on what was previously a golf course for the U.S. missile defense system.
The South Korean Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board issues its final report on the March 2016 near-collision between a China Southern Airbus A319 and a Korean Air Boeing 737-800 on a runway in Cheongju, South Korea. The Board reports the Airbus crew misunderstood the full meaning of the specific ground control runway instruction.