The United States, Japan, and South Korea have made a significant commitment to strengthen their cooperation. This commitment is aimed at building more resilient supply chains and developing key technologies, with a particular focus on semiconductors, clean energy, cybersecurity, and critical minerals.

As part of their commitment, the countries have pledged to proactively identify potential vulnerabilities in global supplies that are essential to their economies. They also aim to address weaknesses in strategic sectors, demonstrating their proactive approach to ensuring supply chain resilience. 

Reuters and the Japan Times reported that US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Japanese Trade Minister Ken Saito, and South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-Geun committed in a joint statement in Washington on Wednesday (June 26). They said they intended this effort to "promote the development of critical and emerging technologies" and strengthen the security and resiliency of the three economies. 

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Trade Ministers' Focus on Strengthening Mineral, Chip Markets

According to Bloomberg, they seek to promote the development of rare earth element technologies to become competitive against China, which plays a dominant role, and to assuage their concerns about "non-market measures" recently reported in the sector. 

European Union competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager was also a key participant in the meeting. Her presence underscored the importance of international collaboration in discussing and strengthening the supply chains of key technologies. 

In a press conference in Washington, Saito told reporters that the three nations were closely monitoring China's investments in its domestic semiconductor industry, especially the rapid pace and expansion of the country's capacity in legacy chips, which are commonly used in cars and other key industries. 

The Korea Times added that Ahn and Saito separately agreed to expand their countries' cooperation based on Seoul's Carbon-Free Energy initiative.

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