Ministry of Foreign Affairs Establishes 'Economic Security TF' Amid Rising Semiconductor and Supply Chain Issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] As supply chain issues in key industries such as semiconductors have emerged as an international issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a task force (TF) dedicated to economic security issues.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 4th, on the 1st, the 'Economic Security TF' was newly established under the Bilateral Economic Diplomacy Bureau, with Kim Jin-dong, the counselor of the Bilateral Economic Diplomacy Bureau, appointed as the head of the TF. Members were drawn from various divisions including the North America and Europe Economic Diplomacy Division and the East Asia Economic Diplomacy Division, operating with a total of 3 to 4 members.

The TF addresses various economic security issues ranging from the semiconductor and electric vehicle battery supply chain restructuring led by the Biden administration, to recent shortages caused by China affecting imports of urea solution, as well as issues in the medical and logistics sectors.

While the TF is primarily operated by the Bilateral Economic Diplomacy Bureau, it plans to closely consult with individual bureaus responsible for bilateral diplomacy such as the Northeast Asia Bureau and the ASEAN Bureau depending on the issues.

There is also a consensus that in the future, the TF should be expanded into a bureau dedicated to economic security, and specialized staff should be dispatched to each diplomatic mission to handle economic security issues professionally.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs established the TF because the new concept of economic security has recently gained attention in diplomatic fields.

As the battleground of US-China conflicts has shifted to the technology sector, there is a clear response movement centered on the US to restructure existing supply chains that are highly dependent on China from the perspective of economic security.

On the 31st of last month (local time), President Biden held a 'Supply Chain Meeting' involving 14 allied and friendly countries on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit, indirectly urging a reduction in supply chain dependence on China.

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