President Moon: "Core Materials, Parts, and Equipment Should Reduce Dependence on Specific Countries" (Comprehensive)

On the 2nd Anniversary of Japan's Export Restrictions, 'Materials-Parts-Equipment Industry Performance Meeting'... "Found the Formula for Overcoming the Crisis"

[Asia Economy reporters Jungmin Ryu and Jieun Lee] President Moon Jae-in stated on the 2nd, marking two years since Japan's export restrictions, that "we have found a successful formula for overcoming the crisis."

On the morning of the same day, President Moon attended the ‘Korea Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry Performance Meeting’ held at the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul, and said, "The lesson we have learned is that we must establish self-reliance in core materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) and reduce dependence on specific countries."

President Moon added, "What is most gratifying is that we have gained confidence and learned how to cooperate. Large corporations joined hands with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies, dedicating full efforts from research and development to verification and mass production to rapidly domesticize core technologies," and evaluated, "The government also actively supported these efforts and there was collaboration among government ministries."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon reported that through these efforts, dependence on Japan for hydrogen fluoride was reduced from 50% to 10%, and independent technology acquisition and exports for fluoropolyimide were achieved.

He explained, "Dependence on Japan for the top 100 core items, which hold a high proportion in the domestic industry, was reduced to 25%." He further added, "The number of SoBuJang SMEs and mid-sized companies with a market capitalization exceeding 1 trillion won increased significantly from 13 to 31. The sales growth rate of SoBuJang listed companies was nearly twice that of other industries."

The Blue House stated that the process of overcoming Japan's export restrictions contains solutions to overcome national crises such as COVID-19. A Blue House official said, "It became an opportunity to confirm our potential by realizing 'we can do it' and to establish national pride that any crisis can be overcome."

Park Su-hyun, the Senior Secretary for Public Communication, also wrote on Facebook on the 1st, "Although there are still paths to take and challenges to overcome, the SoBuJang independence movement is progressing successfully," and added, "We will eventually create a ‘SoBuJang Independence Day.’"

Meanwhile, the event was attended by business leaders including Chey Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, as well as government officials such as Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Blue House was represented by Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Lee Ho-seung and Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Ahn Il-hwan. Forty people from the government, companies, and related organizations attended, and 46 companies shared the process of overcoming Japan's export restrictions through online connections.

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