US Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Likely to Visit Telecom and IT Industries Next Week

Lee Do-hoon, the 2nd Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, is meeting with Jose Fernandez, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, in New York last year. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] Jose Fernandez, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, is expected to visit South Korea early next week and meet with Lee Do-hoon, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.

According to diplomatic sources on the 5th, South Korea and the U.S. are finalizing arrangements for Deputy Secretary Fernandez's visit next week. Fernandez had previously announced during a speech at the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) forum held in Washington DC last November that "I will visit South Korea in early January next year."

During this visit, Deputy Secretary Fernandez is expected to discuss with Vice Minister Lee issues related to strengthening supply chain resilience, deepening science and technology cooperation, and other bilateral economic security matters. They will also exchange views on efforts to ease discriminatory provisions against Korean-made electric vehicles in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Additionally, visits to domestic telecommunications companies and the IT industry are anticipated. In this process, it is expected that they will review the activities of Korean companies in fostering the ecosystem of the next-generation mobile communication technology, 'Open-RAN.'

In May last year, following the Korea-U.S. summit held in South Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden stated in a joint communiqu?, "Recognizing the importance of telecommunications security and operator diversity, the two leaders also pledged to cooperate in developing open, transparent, and secure 5G and 6G network equipment and architecture using Open-RAN approaches both domestically and internationally."

Open-RAN, which stands for Open Radio Access Network, is a standard technology that separates the hardware and software of wireless communication equipment, including base stations, and enables interoperability between equipment made by different manufacturers. It is regarded as one of the technologies the U.S. is fostering as an alternative to 5G products from Chinese companies such as Huawei.

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