Trump confirms ‘letter or a deal’ on tariffs by July 9

We begin in the U.S., where President Donald Trump says he'll begin sending letters about tariff rates to countries starting Monday.

Countries including South Korea are speeding up efforts to enter negotiations.

Our Moon Ji-young starts us off.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is ready to send out letters starting Monday notifying countries of the tariffs they will have to pay.

"We be sending letters out on Monday having to do with the trade deals. Could be 12, maybe 15 .they'll be going out on Monday and some will go out on Tuesday and Wednesday. And it'll and we've, we've made deals also. So we're going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made."

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump added that either a letter will be sent or a deal will be done by July 9th.

Following Trump's comments, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated a three-week reprieve.

"The tariffs go into effect August 1st. But the president is setting the rates and the deals right now."

This comes after Trump's announcement of the tariffs in April, which included a 10 percent base rate for most countries and additional rates, which in some cases went up to around 50 percent, although he later delayed the effective date for all but the 10 percent tariffs until July 9.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac is in Washington, D.C. for three days to discuss pending issues.

On his way to the U.S. on Sunday, he told reporters that Seoul and Washington have been discussing issues related to trade and security.

"As the current negotiation phase is becoming quite critical, I'm stepping up my involvement, which is why I'm visiting the United States."

He is expected to meet with his U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio.

When asked about defense cost-sharing, he indicated that a range of issues were open for discussion, implying that cost-sharing could be on the agenda.

The agenda is also expected to include coordination for a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Moon Ji-young, Arirang News.