Industry minister nominee vows to make efforts to secure key supply chains

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun, who has been nominated by President Yoon Suk Yeol as the next minister of trade, industry and energy, said Monday he will stabilize the country's key industrial supply chains that still heavily rely on imports.

Meeting reporters on his first day at his temporary office inside the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry headquarters in central Seoul, as he awaits the National Assembly's qualification questioning, Ahn said that he will come up with alternative supply chains for 185 selective natural minerals and prevent the country from being at the mercy of exporting countries.

"I will promptly bring calm to the currently pressing issue of supply chains at risk and thereby keep the momentum on our exports going," Ahn said in the spontaneous meeting. "Countries that have come to trade with Korea are now around 100 in number. I will maximize the network to protect Korea's economic growth engines."

Saying that the world is now in an "industrial war," Ahn said he will work with Finance Minister nominee Choi Sang-mok to improve the country's economy.

Ahn's appointment comes amid simmering threats to the country's supply chains of key industrial minerals from overseas, as some exporting states began tightening the number of outbound shipments. Urea and graphite, for example, being mostly shipped from China, have raised concerns that Korea should diversify its supply chains fast before imported stockpiles run dry and disrupt the market.

To jointly target the issue, the ministry and China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday held a meeting in Seoul to bolster their bilateral supply chains. In an extension from previous bilateral meetings in San Francisco last month and Beijing on Dec. 4, they discussed how to operate their joint supply hotline to protect bilateral trade.

Last Wednesday, incumbent Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Bang Moon-kyu visited POSCO Future M's natural graphite anode factory in Sejong — the country's only factory that manufactures graphite anodes — and announced a plan to secure 185 key minerals including rare gases for semiconductor manufacturing, graphite, rare earth permanent magnets and urea.

The plan guides the country to lower its reliance on mineral-exporting countries from 70 percent on average in 2022 to below 50 percent by 2030. Over 93 percent of graphite for rechargeable battery anodes, for example, was shipped last year from China. The country started curbing graphite exports this month while leaving the door slightly open for selective companies in need.

The ministry's new plan specified the country's eight most important supply chains, including urea and minerals for rechargeable batteries' cathodes and anodes, and announced ways to secure them through self-reliance and diversifying supply chains.

The ministry last Saturday started unloading 5,500 tons of urea shipped from Vietnam to Ulsan. After China began tightening exports of the substance critical for running the country's local freight trucks and other large vehicles, the Korean government began tapping other countries including Japan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam to replenish its supply. The government said it has secured urea shipments until next February when 14,000 tons will be imported from countries other than China.

A bigger factor behind the tumultuous supply chain risks, according to observers, is the contentious relationship between China and the United States and their strategic manipulation of global supply chains. The appointment of Ahn at this particular time is thus considered President Yoon's gambit to use his expertise in global commerce amid the international quagmire.

"I have been serving as trade minister for the past 19 months," said Ahn, who also taught global commerce to graduate students and advised the government on the subject for a number of years. "It will help me with a smooth transition of leadership over the ministry and mitigate concerns about changes to policies now in practice."