Hong Nam-ki "Discussing US IPEF Government Position Early Next Month"... Will Membership Accelerate?

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance (second from left), is presiding over the Meeting of Ministers on External Economic Issues (Green Room Meeting) at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 24th. March 24, 2022. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on the 24th regarding the U.S.-led 'Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)' that "a Foreign Economic Security Strategy Meeting will be held in early April to discuss the government's detailed stance." Since the Korean government had previously expressed its willingness to cooperate, it is expected to accelerate the accession process.

On the morning of the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Hong held a closed-door meeting with related ministers (Green Room Meeting) at the Government Seoul Office and said, "We comprehensively considered the economic effects related to IPEF, diplomatic and security impacts, and major countries' trends to thoroughly review and coordinate Korea's participation issues from multiple perspectives."

IPEF is a comprehensive economic alliance envisioned by the U.S. administration to curb China's expanding economic influence. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that it "basically welcomes" IPEF.

The government plans to apply for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which does not include the U.S., as early as next month. Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "We have been collecting opinions through regional on-site meetings, industry-specific councils, expert meetings, and have identified supplementary policy tasks through inter-ministerial task forces (TF). Based on the results of the public hearing on the 25th and the opinions heard from various sectors so far, we plan to diligently prepare follow-up measures related to reporting to the National Assembly and the accession application."

Meanwhile, attendees at the meeting reviewed the impact on the shipping and aviation sectors related to the Russia-Ukraine situation. They agreed to closely monitor the effects on transportation and logistics via shipping and aviation due to international sanctions against Russia and to continuously seek measures to minimize impacts such as supporting export-import logistics and ensuring flight safety.

Attendees at the meeting included Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Kim Hyun-soo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Moon Sung-hyuk, Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong-moon, First Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Park Jin-gyu, Director-General for Trade Negotiations Yeo Han-gu, Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Kang Sung-chun, and Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs to the Blue House Park Won-joo.

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