US USTR Excludes Korea from Section 301 Watch List for 12 Consecutive Years...

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] South Korea has been excluded from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) intellectual property rights watch list for 12 consecutive years.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 30th that South Korea was excluded from the intellectual property rights watch list in the 2020 Special 301 Report released by the USTR on the 29th (local time).

The Special 301 Report evaluates the level of intellectual property protection in each country annually and classifies countries with insufficient protection into groups. It categorizes them as "Priority Watch List," "Watch List," and "Priority Foreign Country," with trade retaliation measures possible against Priority Foreign Countries.

This year's report designated 10 countries, including China and Indonesia, as Priority Watch List countries, and 23 countries, including Thailand and Vietnam, as Watch List countries.

South Korea was not included in the list again this year, marking 12 consecutive years since it was removed from the watch list in 2009.

The Korean government submitted comments regarding the Section 301 report and conveyed industry opinions by attending and speaking at the Special 301 public hearing held by the USTR on the 26th.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "Considering that intellectual property protection is an essential element for companies' creativity and innovation to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we plan to continue efforts with related ministries to protect intellectual property rights."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.