With a snap election looming, South Korea's rival parties jockeyed for position with vows to focus on the economy and livelihood, but the leaderless country remains hamstrung when it comes to confronting the biggest threat: Trump and tariffs.

South Korea’s interim leadership was thrown into emergency mode to protect the export-reliant economy from a trade crisis after the Trump administration announced one of the highest tariff rates to hit a US security ally.

President Trump's reciprocal tariffs on Japan (24%) and South Korea (25%) were largely in line with market expectations.