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Trade/Investment
Korea-U.S.-Japan Business Dialogue
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn attended the Korea-U.S.-Japan Business Dialogue on June 26 in Washington D.C. and gave a keynote speech to the 50 attendees, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, Japan’s Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Saito Ken and other representatives of related associations and major companies. date2024-06-28
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Industry
Joint Statement on Japan-Republic of Korea-United States Commerce and Industry Ministerial Meeting
Joint Statement Japan-Republic of Korea-United States Commerce and Industry Ministerial Meeting June 26, 2024 – Washington, D.C. We, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo; Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Saito Ken; and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Ahn Duk-geun met in Washington today for the inaugural meeting of Commerce and Industry Ministers. United by the vision established by our three leaders at their historic Trilateral Summit at Camp David on August 18, 2023, we resolve to focus our joint efforts on a set of strategic areas designed to enhance the security and prosperity of our people and the Indo-Pacific region. Our shared intent is to leverage this trilateral mechanism to promote the development of critical and emerging technologies and strengthen the security and resiliency of our economies. Recognizing these two goals are intertwined, we aim to prioritize cooperation to strengthen the resilience of supply chains in key sectors, including semiconductors and batteries; and to promote the Principles on Resilient and Reliable Supply Chains, namely, transparency, diversification, security, sustainability, and trustworthiness and reliability. Together, we seek to deepen our coordination of export controls on advanced technologies; enhance private sector partnerships for collaborative research and innovation related to advanced industrial technologies; advance efforts to develop international standards and ensure safe, secure, and trustworthy use of artificial intelligence (AI); expand collaboration on critical and emerging technologies and on critical minerals; work together to strengthen economic security; and support long-term economic cooperation among the partners to support operationalizing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). As part of these efforts, there is an urgency to our three sides working closely together to identify potential supply chain vulnerabilities for strategic goods that have resulted from a wide range of non-market policies and practices. We share concerns over the weaponization of economic dependencies on certain supply sources for strategic goods. To address the resulting, systemic vulnerabilities stemming from such dependencies, we intend to promote a level playing field through more closely coordinated efforts – including working together, and with other partners, on relevant criteria that take into account not only economic factors, but also factors linked to the Principles on Resilient and Reliable Supply Chains. Semiconductors: We reaffirm our recognition of the essential role that semiconductors play in a wide range of industries and applications important to the growth of our economies and preservation of our national security. We note our shared interest in building resilient semiconductor supply chains and aim to accelerate cooperation to achieve this goal. Clean Energy: Recognizing the need to reduce the carbon intensity and overall greenhouse gas emissions of our respective economies, we reaffirm the importance of trilateral cooperation to strengthen global battery supply chains. In addition, we concur that clean/zero emission and low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives, such as clean ammonia, will play an essential role in the decarbonization of a wide variety of sectors. Towards that end, we intend to cooperate to promote the development of secure and resilient global supply chains for clean/zero emission and low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives, including the consideration of their carbon intensity, and to explore how the three ministries that we lead can enhance cooperation on low- and/or carbon-free energy emissions technologies, including clean/zero emission and low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives. Critical Minerals: We further reaffirm the importance of increasing the availa date2024-06-27
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Trade/Investment
Ewha Womans University and Syensqo celebrate 10 years of industry-academia cooperation
Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the decennial anniversary ceremony of Ewha-Syensqo Research & Innovation (R&I) Center on June 27 in Seoul in commemoration of the 10-year academia and industry cooperation between Ewha Womans University and leading global materials company Syensqo. Formerly known as Solvay, Syensqo established the Rhodia Silica Korea in Incheon in 1975 and the specialty chemicals business headquarters in Korea in 2011, followed by its global R&I Center at Ewha Womans University in 2014. The Ewha-Syensqo R&I Center is a successful case of foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction based on trilateral cooperation among the Government, university, and businesses, which contributes to creating quality jobs in automobile and electronics related industries through R&D in battery and green hydrogen, ultimately building up Korea’s future industrial competitiveness. At the ceremony, Ewha Womans University and Syensqo sealed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the pledged support of over KRW 5 billion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas, and held a symposium for both looking back on the outcomes from the past and looking forward to those of another coming decade. Syensqo has thus far invested over ₩6.6 billion in research and scholarship funding. In his congratulatory message, Trade Minister Cheong said that the Korean government has newly launched an R&D project exclusively for foreign-invested firms in order to better support global companies’ R&D investments, and that the project will be further expanded to allow more foreign-invested firms to participate in the advanced industrial technology innovations in Korea. date2024-06-27
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Industry
Korea-U.S.-Japan industry ministers’ meeting
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn attended the inaugural Korea-U.S.-Japan industry ministers’ meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Saito Ken on June 26 in Washington D.C. and discussed measures for accelerating the development of critical and emerging technologies and bolstering the three countries’ economic security as part of implementing the agreed outcomes of the trilateral summit at Camp David in August 2023. date2024-06-27
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Trade/Investment
Minister Ahn receives investment declarations from U.S. companies
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn received the investment declarations from U.S. companies Corning and Pacifico Energy on June 26 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the first Korea-U.S.-Japan industry ministers’ meeting. date2024-06-27
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Industry
Minister Ahn meets Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Saito Ken on June 26 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industry ministers’ meeting and discussed measures for implementation of agreed outcomes of the Korea-Japan summit held this May. date2024-06-27
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Energy
Minister Ahn speaks at Korea-U.S. Clean Energy Forum
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn is speaking at the Korea-U.S. Clean Energy Forum on June 25 in Washington D.C., which was attended by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk and representatives of related institutions and energy companies. date2024-06-27
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FTA/Economic Cooperation
Trade Minister meets ambassadors to Korea from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Serbia, and Dominican Republic
Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met the ambassadors to Korea from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Serbia, and the Dominican Republic on June 26 in Seoul to discuss measures for bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). date2024-06-27
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Energy
Korea and U.S. to expand clean energy cooperation
The U.S.-ROK Clean Energy Forum was held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, D.C., on June 25 as a part of both nations' dedication to accelerating the clean energy transition, expanding clean electricity deployment and building clean energy economies, which the two leaders agreed upon in April last year. About 80 participants from the two governments, industry, academia, and research attended the forum. The thematic sessions covered advanced battery technology development and demonstration, energy storage systems (ESS) to expand clean electricity; clean energy investment and financing; electricity power grid innovation for a reliable, resilient, stable, and affordable system; and commercialization and deployment of clean hydrogen technologies, including mobility, supply chain, and certification. These discussions among government officials and experts from industry, academia, and laboratories illuminated the vast opportunities and challenges for bilateral cooperation in each of these areas, painting a promising picture for the future of clean energy. In his congratulatory address, Minister Dukgeun Ahn reiterated the importance of the forum, stating that "We have a valuable opportunity to unlock further potential for Korea and the United States to engage in mutual efforts towards a clean energy future while the Korean private sector has responded to the attractive IRA incentives by investing in the United States." He also proposed to "regularize the U.S.-ROK Clean Energy Forum and continue the energy policy dialogue at the Ministerial level. By strengthening our energy cooperation, I am confident that we can achieve energy security and address the climate crisis facing our world together." date2024-06-27
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Industry
Korea and Japan discuss measures for implementing summit outcomes on margins of Washington trilateral
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Saito Ken on June 26 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industry ministers’ meeting and discussed measures for implementation of agreed outcomes of the Korea-Japan summit held this May. The delegations of both sides welcomed the launching of the recent inaugural Hydrogen Cooperation Dialogue in Seoul and agreed on installing the Clean Hydrogen and Ammonia Supply Chain Development Working Group and on nurturing public-private cooperation through the “Korea-Japan Hydrogen and Ammonia Supply Chain and Utilization Cooperation Platform (tentative)” and other means. The two sides also agreed to consult with experts for a more detailed cooperation on the Carbon Free Energy (CFE) Initiative and highly assessed the Korea-Japan Global Green Cooperation Working Group held this May and decided to bolster joint response. The Korean and Japanese delegations agreed to continue their supply chain discussions across major industries while also making concerted efforts to stabilize the global supply chain for critical minerals. Lastly, they discussed measures for cooperation in key multilateral initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as the Korea-Japan-China and Korea-U.S.-Japan multilateral consultations. date2024-06-27