Korean firm under U.S. trade probe paid $2 million to Trump family business, report says

A Korean mid-sized conglomerate under investigation by the U.S. government for allegedly dodging tariffs on Chinese products now faces scrutiny after it was revealed that its parent company paid $2 million to a business owned by the family of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The New York Times reported that the payment has fueled speculation that the company may have sought to leverage its private ties to the Trump family to lobby for favorable treatment as U.S.-China trade tensions escalate.

Base Group, the parent of Korea Aluminium, paid $2 million to The Trump Organization last year, according to President Trump's latest financial disclosure obtained and reported by The New York Times.

The Trump Organization is a privately held company owned by Donald Trump and operated by his family.

Base Group described the payment as part of a “letter of intent” and a “nonrefundable development fee” for a new business venture.

The controversy centers on whether the payment could be viewed as an attempt to influence U.S. officials. The timing coincided with an ongoing U.S. trade investigation involving Korea Aluminium.

Korea Aluminium, a subsidiary of Camus E&C, manufactures aluminum foil used in food and pharmaceutical packaging. Since 2022, during the Joe Biden administration, the company has faced allegations that it processed Chinese aluminum in Korea before exporting it to the United States to circumvent U.S. tariffs on Chinese products. The U.S. Department of Commerce has completed its preliminary investigation and is expected to issue a final determination. Korea Aluminium and other Korean companies have strongly disputed the allegations and submitted their responses to U.S. authorities.

Base Group is known to have spent nearly a decade cultivating ties with the Trump family.

Chairman Kim Sung-jip traveled to Washington last year to attend President Trump's inauguration. In the spring, he met Eric Trump, the president's second son and executive vice president of The Trump Organization, at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida. In February this year, Base Group officially invited Eric Trump to its headquarters in Seoul and arranged meetings with prominent figures from Korea's political and business communities.

The relationship also expanded into business partnerships.

Keumyang International, Base Group's distribution subsidiary, holds the exclusive rights in Korea to import and sell wines from Trump Winery in Virginia. Another affiliate, construction firm Camus E&C, is also pursuing a golf course development project with The Trump Organization that includes plans for a hotel and entertainment complex in Korea.

The timing of the payment has sparked speculation in Washington and the U.S. media that Base Group may have used Eric Trump and The Trump Organization as an indirect lobbying channel in an attempt to influence the outcome of the trade investigation into Korea Aluminium.

As the controversy grew, both sides denied any wrongdoing.

“The Trump Organization owns and operates some of the finest golf and resort properties around the world,” Base Group said in a statement, according to The New York Times.

The company clarified that the $2 million payment was a legitimate business investment for the acquisition and development of a new golf course project that has not yet been publicly announced. It added that it is entirely unrelated to the U.S. investigation into its affiliate's aluminum exports.

Alan Garten, The Trump Organization's chief legal officer, also rejected the allegations.

“Any suggestion that this transaction was driven by anything other than legitimate business considerations is pure fiction,” Garten said in a statement.

Still, the revelation that a business owned by the family of a sitting U.S. president received a multimillion-dollar payment from a foreign company embroiled in a trade dispute with the U.S. government is likely to intensify scrutiny of the Trump administration. Questions over fairness and potential conflicts of interest are unlikely to fade, particularly as the Commerce Department prepares its final ruling on the case.

BY JEONG JAE-HONG [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]