The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) held the first Korea-Japan Mineral Resources Cooperation Dialogue today in Tokyo to launch forward the two countries’ active cooperation in stabilizing the critical minerals supply chains essential for the development of advanced industries.

At today’s meeting, MOTIE’s Director General for Resources Industry Policy Yoon Chang-hyun and METI’s Deputy Director-General for Manufacturing Industries Hideyuki Urata engaged in discussions on the two countries’ critical minerals policies, critical minerals stockpiling cooperation, and measures for joint production in third countries.

First, in view of Korea and Japan’s similarities with respect to both operating their critical minerals stockpile systems from an economic security standpoint, the two sides agreed to establish a system for close cooperation for responding to global critical minerals supply chain risks.

They also agreed to boost cooperation in the joint development and production of critical minerals in third countries to decrease supply chain risks by supporting the collaboration between their private-sector businesses and relevant institutions.

Moreover, both sides will be making effort to establish critical minerals related global norms and stabilize supply chains based on stronger joint policy efforts through the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), while also seeking joint strategies for responding to global supply chain risks.

As Korea and Japan are major critical minerals importers that share homogeneous industrial structures with competitiveness in cutting-edge industries like semiconductors and batteries, the two countries are anticipating considerable synergy from their collaboration in critical minerals supply chains. They plan to keep expanding their scope of strategic cooperation in the future through the Korea-Japan Mineral Resources Cooperation Dialogue and other channels in order to effectively respond to global supply chain crises.