Korea-US-Japan: "Violations of Export Control Measures Threaten National Security"

High-Level Meeting of the Korea-US-Japan Innovative Technology Protection Network

South Korea, the United States, and Japan have agreed to strengthen cooperation in technology protection and export control enforcement.

On the 25th (local time), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that a government delegation from South Korea, including representatives from the Presidential Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Korea Customs Service, held the "1st Korea-US-Japan High-Level Meeting on Innovation Technology Protection Network" in Washington D.C. with delegations from the US Department of Justice and Department of Commerce, as well as Japan’s National Police Agency and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

This meeting is part of follow-up measures based on the "Camp David Spirit" adopted at the Korea-US-Japan summit last August. Through this meeting, the Ministry expects expanded trilateral cooperation on innovation technology protection, including information sharing among agencies responsible for technology protection and export control enforcement, and exchange of best practices.

The meeting was chaired by Matthew Olsen, Director of the National Security Division at the US Department of Justice, who leads the US "Innovation Technology Task Force," and Matthew Axelrod, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the US Department of Commerce. The Innovation Technology Task Force is a US government-wide joint investigation team established in February last year to protect innovation technologies from theft attempts.

As close trade partners, South Korea, the US, and Japan shared the recognition at the meeting that violations of each country’s export control measures pose a threat to national security.

Accordingly, to expand cooperation and information sharing among the three countries, the Ministry of Justice signed a memorandum of understanding for law enforcement cooperation on technology leakage with the US Department of Justice and Japan’s National Police Agency. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy also signed a memorandum of understanding on export control enforcement cooperation with the US Department of Commerce and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The delegations also introduced recent cases of law enforcement related to technology protection and export control in their respective countries, compared and analyzed their implications, and discussed practical measures necessary for the implementation of the memoranda of understanding.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "Going forward, the Korean government will continue to actively cooperate with the US and Japanese governments through the Korea-US-Japan Innovation Technology Protection Network to do its utmost to protect innovation technologies directly linked to the national economy and security."

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