Mayor of a Tariff-Hit Steel City Flew Across the World to Tell Trump: ‘Please Stop’
As the mayor of the capital of South Korea’s steel industry, Lee Kang-deok met this summer with local officials to discuss the steelmaking city’s economic emergency. President Trump had just doubled steel tariffs to 50%, and Lee made a bold suggestion.
“Maybe I need to go to the U.S. to protest,” the 63-year-old recalled saying. His colleagues laughed.
Lee wasn’t joking. About a month ago, he flew halfway around the world to Washington, D.C., where he hunkered down at the park across from the White House’s north lawn. He, along with city staffers and others, hoisted banners that read in all-caps English: “PLEASE STOP IMPOSING STEEL TARIFFS ON YOUR ALLY REPUBLIC OF KOREA.”
The move reflected Lee’s desperation as a city mayor navigating the tariff pain wrought by Trump’s proposed levies on dozens of U.S. trade partners. Many government leaders have had the opportunity to voice opposition to the tariffs inside the White House. Lee can say he’s the rare official to have protested outside it.
Story by Jiyoung Sohn and Soobin Kim.
Commissioned and published by The Wall Street Journal.
October 2025
Photographed in Pohang, South Korea
