*

South Korea-U.S. trade talks face delays over investment

fund

terms

*

Yeo Han-koo heads to U.S. for follow-up tariff

negotiations

*

U.S. immigration raid strains South Korea-U.S. relations

(Adds Yeo's comments, background from paragraph 2)

SEOUL, Sept 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's top trade

envoy, Yeo Han-koo, is heading to the United States on Monday

for follow-up tariff negotiations, the trade ministry said, as

the countries struggle to overcome obstacles to finalise a trade

deal agreed in July.

Details of the broad trade agreement still need to be

hammered out, especially around a $350 billion investment fund.

Officials in Seoul have said trade talks are being

delayed because the terms outlined in a similar deal with

Japan

struck with the U.S. are unacceptable for South Korea due

to foreign exchange market implications.

Yeo's trip comes after Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan

recently returned from Washington after talks with U.S. Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick.

"We're working hard to achieve an outcome that is reasonable

and meets our national interests," Yeo told reporters at the

airport before leaving for the United States.

The apparently inability of Industry Minister Kim to make

progress in trade talks during his U.S. trip has raised concerns

that negotiations have reached an impasse, local media reported.

Kim did not elaborate on the trade negotiations other than

saying they were still underway, when asked by reporters about

his latest trip to the United States.

The trade ministry could not immediately be reached for

comment.

President Lee Jae Myung said last week that he would not

sign any agreement with the U.S. if it put at risk South Korea's

national interests.

"If it doesn't benefit us, there's no point in signing it,"

Lee told a press conference.

The finance ministry said on Sunday it was discussing

various measures with the U.S. to minimise any impact on the

onshore currency market from the $350 billion investment package

but declined to confirm if the measures included a foreign

exchange swap line.

The tariff negotiations are underway at a time when the

countries are trying to repair strained ties after a recent U.S.

immigration raid that saw the arrest of hundreds of Korean

workers at a Hyundai Motor ( HYMLF ) battery plant in the state of

Georgia, one of South Korea's biggest U.S. investment projects.

Images of the raid that saw workers taken into custody in

handcuffs and shackles by U.S. immigration authorities have left

many shocked in South Korea, a key U.S. ally.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on social media

that he wanted foreign companies to bring their professionals to

teach and train Americans to learn how to make complex products

such as chips and ships.

"I want them (foreign companies) to bring their people of

expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how

to make these very unique and complex products," Trump said on

his Truth Social platform.

"I don't want to frighten off or disincentivize Investment

into America by outside Countries or Companies," he said.