South Korea to extend support for 'strategic' high-tech materials, parts
18 Oct 2022 04:56pm
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Following Japan's export curbs of key materials bound for Seoul in 2019, the government here had designated a total of 100 "key strategic technologies" related to semiconductors, displays, electronics and vehicles, among other sectors, reported Yonhap.
During a related committee meeting earlier in the day, the government decided to expand the list to involve a total of 150 items related to advanced, future industries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
"We've mostly focused on how to respond to Japan's export restrictions. But now is the time to redesign the scheme beyond the issue to more effectively deal with fast-changing global supply chain situations, such as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and the heated Sino-US competition over the global technology hegemony," ministry official Joo Young-jun said.
Since Japan's export curbs, South Korea's dependence on Japanese materials and parts has decreased to hit an all-time low in the first half of this year.
"South Korea has been proactively coping with the supply-chain crisis of materials, parts, and equipment sparked by Japan's export curbs in 2019," Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said during the meeting. "As a result, we have achieved meaningful progress by reducing our dependence on key products from Japan."
South Korea's dependence on Japan for 100 major products came to 24.9 per cent in 2021, down from 30.9 per cent tallied in 2019, according to the finance ministry.
But the country's dependence on imports from China grew 29.6 per cent in the first half from 24.9 per cent in 2012, according to government data.
Calls have grown in South Korea for reducing reliance on China, particularly after the country suffered a supply shortage of urea, a key industrial material, late last year, following Beijing's export restrictions to ease its domestic supply bottlenecks.
Among the 100 technologies on the list, the government took out 13 items and added 63 new ones related to chips, displays, and bio sectors, after consultations with experts and government and industry officials, the ministry said.
"We plan to establish an ecosystem of cooperation led by the private sector, and build a monitoring system that can preemptively track signs of crisis in the global supply chain without disruption," Choo said. - BERNAMA
