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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).