Korea, US agree to forge closer economic ties

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang, eighth from left, poses with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, seventh from left, and executives from Korean and American companies during a business roundtable meeting at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul, Saturday. Second from left are SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won; Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin; acting U.S. Ambassador to Korea Christopher Del Corso; Hanwha Solutions CEO Kim Dong-kwan; Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong; Raimondo; Lee; Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun; Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon; Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun; OCI Chairman Baik Woo-sug; LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo; GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem; and Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Two nations to start ministerial talks on supply chain security

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea and the United States agreed to strengthen economic ties as the industrial ministers of the two countries will hold a meeting every year to discuss issues related to supply chains and key industries in the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Korea, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Saturday.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul and agreed to discuss industrial cooperation and economic security issues such as the digital economy, healthcare technology and export controls as well as high-tech manufacturing and supply chain resilience issues including semiconductors.

"The two ministers agree that the global supply chain crisis, intensifying competition for the high-tech industry and weakening traditional global value chains are causing instability and that cooperation between the two countries is desperately needed as the issues cannot be resolved by just one country," the industry ministry said.

Stating that the Indo-Pacific region should play a key part in the global economy with regards to solving the global supply chain crisis, the two ministers also agreed that the countries will actively cooperate to resolve issues such as supply chain stabilization, digital economy, clean energy and carbon neutrality through the upcoming Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

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2022-05-22 16:36 | Foreign Affairs

Led by the U.S., the IPEF is aimed at strengthening cooperation between the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region. The economic framework will be officially launched on May 23 when Biden visits Japan.

"Minister Lee stressed that Korea will take the initiative in discussing digital, supply chain and clean energy sectors in which the country has strengths," the industry ministry said. "He also emphasized cooperation in semiconductors as the chip business has become a key area of economic security issues."

In response, the U.S. Department of Commerce said, "The U.S.-Korea Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue will help to facilitate closer bilateral collaboration on the digital economy, export controls, advanced manufacturing, healthcare technology, as well as broader efforts to increase supply chain resilience."

After the bilateral talks, Lee and Raimondo co-hosted a business roundtable meeting with executives from companies in Korea and the U.S. to demonstrate the importance of the trade and investment relationship between the two countries.

The roundtable meeting featured 16 companies related to semiconductors, batteries, clean energy and digital sectors. In Korea, the chiefs of eight companies including Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte, Hanwha, OCI and Naver participated while the U.S. side included executives from Applied Materials, Bloom Energy, GM Korea, Google, Lam Research, Qualcomm, Corning and GE.

The company executives and chiefs of business organizations here were also invited to President Yoon Suk-yeol's welcome dinner for Biden, held at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Saturday evening.

Lee Jae-yong, right, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, speaks with Rep. Yun Ho-jung, left, emergency committee chief of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, during President Yoon Suk-yeol's welcome dinner for U.S. President Joe Biden, held at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

The business lobby groups in Korea gave positive responses to the meeting, saying Korea and the U.S. have developed bilateral relations into an economic security alliance.

"We strongly support the Korea-U.S. economic security alliance, and the business community will do its best to strengthen the economic cooperation between Korea and the U.S," the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) also released a statement saying, "We welcome the upgrade of the Korea-U.S. alliance to a 'comprehensive strategic alliance' that covers security, the economy and supply chains."

An official from a local conglomerate said, "We hope that the meetings of economic figures between the two countries will further boost cooperation and resolve the various uncertainties facing the global economy."

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