Korean trade chief calls for stronger ties with US on future industries
This photo shows Korean business leaders attending a Korea-Japan business roundtable in Tokyo including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, 2nd from right, and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung, center, March 17. Yonhap
Korea and the United States need to bolster corporate exchanges and cooperation in future industry fields and to make joint efforts to ensure stable global supply chains, Seoul's top trade official said Monday.
Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun made the call during a seminar on the two nations' tariff and customs issues held in Seoul, which was co-hosted by the Korea International Trade Association and the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
"Companies of both nations have played a key role in solidifying the Korea-U.S. alliance over the past 70 years," Ahn said, noting that the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement turned the bilateral alliance into an economic one from the security-centered alliance.
"Now is time for the two nations to further beef up corporate exchanges in such new industry fields as the digital economy and eco-friendly fields, and to make joint efforts to ensure stable supply chains," he said.
During this week's visit to Washington by President Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul and Washington are expected to discuss ways to boost business ties in semiconductors, batteries, clean energy and a wide range of other advanced industries, according to the minister.
Yoon will be accompanied by a 122-person business delegation made up of chiefs of conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.
Since the KORUS FTA came into force in 2012, bilateral trade volume has nearly doubled, jumping to $191.6 billion in 2022 from $100.8 billion in 2011.
Korea's investment in the U.S. between 2012 and 2021 more than tripled to $149.5 billion from $43.9 billion between 2002 and 2011, and the U.S.' investment in Korea jumped to $48 billion during the cited period from $24.3 billion a decade earlier, according to government data. (Yonhap)