SEOUL, June 11 : South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked the European Union to give Korean steel makers "favorable consideration" as the bloc gets set to raise import tariffs on July 1, his office said on Thursday. Lee made the request during a summit with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Belgium on Wednesday, the president's office said in a statement. At the meeting, Lee asked the EU to ensure South Korean steel makers can access the bloc's market on terms no less favourable than those offered to competitors, citing South Korea's status as a strategic and free trade partner with the EU, the office said. In May, the European Parliament approved plans to reduce its tariff-free steel imports by nearly half from 2024 levels to 18.3 million metric tons a year. For volumes above that level, tariffs of 50 per cent will apply, up from a current 25 per cent. In 2024, South Korea was the second-biggest steel exporter to the EU, shipping 3.3 million tons of finished steel products, according to data from Eurofer.