Korea to leverage economic network to address trade risks: finance minister

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol attends a meeting held at Sejong Government Complex, Monday. Yonhap

Korea will leverage its existing economic cooperation network built through summit diplomacy to address lingering uncertainties in the global trade environment, including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the finance ministry said Monday.

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol made the remarks during a meeting with relevant ministries on external economic affairs, stressing the need to address pending risks while securing new growth engines.

"To address external uncertainties, Korea will proactively utilize the foundation for economic cooperation built through summit diplomacy," Koo said during the meeting. "Relevant ministries will promptly implement the MOUs signed during the summits.

"The government will focus on ensuring the stable management of external risks while continuing efforts to build cooperation with new markets, proactively supporting Korean companies in expanding their global business opportunities," he added.

During the meeting, the government also vowed to maintain coordination with Washington after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) recently proposed a 12.5 percent tariff on Korea and dozens of other economies over their alleged failure to enforce import bans on products made with forced labor.

"We plan to continue talks with the U.S. to stably manage our trade relationship," the finance ministry said.

Korea will continue to fulfill its investment pledge to the U.S. by closely reviewing the viability of potential projects, it added.

The participants additionally discussed the progress of the ongoing negotiations with Bangladesh on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with the aim of expanding bilateral cooperation in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and other key sectors.

Other agenda items discussed during the meeting included official development assistance (ODA) projects in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector under Korea's vision of promoting what it calls a "Global AI Basic Society," aimed at providing access to the technology for all.

"The government plans to promote Seoul's signature AI business models to developing countries," the finance ministry said, noting that such ODA projects will also support Korean companies' expansion into overseas markets.

The finance ministry said the ODA packages will include AI solutions, data centers and energy infrastructure, focusing on sectors, such as water management, health care, energy, transportation and education.