Woo Tae-hee, Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, "Government Must Prepare Measures to Counter Protectionism"

The 2nd Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Trade Forum Held
"Need to Respond to Prevent Contraction of Corporate Business Activities"

Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), stated on the 23rd regarding China's trade policy outlook and response measures for Korean companies, "Our government must carefully address the situation by upholding fundamental principles such as market economy, free trade, multilateral trade, and non-discrimination to prevent business activities from being stifled amid the rise of protectionism centered on domestic interests."

Vice President Woo emphasized the role of the Korean government amid the US-China trade war during the '2nd KCCI Trade Forum' held jointly with Kim & Chang Law Office at the KCCI building in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the same day. He said, "Korea has recently undergone a period of readjusting its trade cooperation framework with major trading partners amid the global trade order restructuring."

At the meeting, Kim & Chang Law Office advisors An Chong-gi and Shin Jeong-hoon, a US attorney, who served as presenters, analyzed, "The competition between the US and China is a strategic rivalry in geopolitics, economy, and technology," adding, "The US is proposing the establishment of an Economic Prosperity Network with its allies, to which China is also responding."

They further noted, "If the Economic Prosperity Network proposed by the US materializes and develops, a loosely connected economic bloc could form in the advanced technology industry sector," emphasizing the need for Korean companies to prepare accordingly.

It is analyzed that China will strive to secure a central position in Asia by early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), promotion of the Korea-China-Japan Free Trade Agreement, strengthening the Belt and Road Initiative, and pursuing accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in response to the Economic Prosperity Network.

However, despite the US-China competition triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, they diagnosed that complete decoupling between the two countries is unlikely. They added, "China will remain Korea's top export market for the time being," and "Relations with China should be managed and maintained within a cooperative framework rather than approached dichotomously."

The second presenter, Seo Jin-gyo, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), predicted, "If negotiations with emerging countries like China under the existing World Trade Organization (WTO) framework involving the US, EU, and Japan are deemed unsatisfactory, attempts to establish a new multilateral system with friendly countries will intensify."

He continued, "The 'strategic ambiguity' we have maintained so far will soon reach its limits," and argued, "We must clearly define and consistently respond based on the fundamental principles of fair and transparent free trade centered on national interests between developed and emerging countries."

Senior Research Fellow Seo outlined principles Korea should uphold, including ▲ defending shared values such as free trade and fair trade ▲ jointly responding to protectionist measures centered on national interests ▲ leading efforts to maintain global supply chains.

Participants at the meeting agreed on the necessity of strategic responses based on government principles and national interests regarding the reshaping of supply chains centered on domestic interests in key industries. Given that the US and China are actively seeking cooperation with Korea, it was explained that the government and companies should establish tailored cooperation measures by sector.

As for Korea-China economic cooperation measures, suggestions included Korean companies' participation in China's new industry development projects such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and electric vehicles, joint development of Korea-China cultural content, and active utilization of industrial cooperation complexes.

Meanwhile, 14 experts from government, academia, industry, and research institutions attended the meeting, which was hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Kim & Chang Law Office. The KCCI plans to regularly hold the 'KCCI Trade Forum' to review trade issues in major economic zones such as the US, China, and India.

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