Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the 22nd Northeast Asia Standards Cooperation Forum (NEAS Forum) through July 15–17 in Seoul with the participation of 120 government officials and private experts from Korea, China, and Japan.

Launched in 2022 and held in rotation by Korea, China, and Japan, the NEAS Forum is a trilateral public-private standards cooperation and exchange channel among the three countries’ major standards institutions. The Forum serves as a venue for sharing national standards strategies and private-sector standards expert exchanges, through which the participants were able to establish the legislation of 29 international standards. In conjunction with the Forum, Korea’s KATS, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), and China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) hold bilateral and trilateral director general-level meetings to discuss measures for supporting the three countries’ standards cooperation.

During this 22nd NEAS Forum, the three countries held in-depth discussions on 18 new joint projects, including one on metaverse healthcare service, and nine existing joint projects, including one on cargo containers. They also agreed to consider launching a working group composed of experts from each of the three countries for the new projects. 

Concerning Korea’s technical white paper project on medium voltage direct currents (MVDC) selected by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Korea requested the participation of Chinese and Japanese experts. Korea also asked the two countries’ support towards six international standards proposals it plans to submit to the International Standards Organization (ISO), including one on the service robot testing method.