Amid Intensifying US-China Competition, 'Economic Security Diplomacy Center' and North Korea 'Fake News Monitoring' Also Established

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] As the US and China accelerate their competition to expand global supply chains, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will establish an ‘Economic Security Diplomacy Center’ starting from the first quarter of next year to respond. This is part of building an ‘early warning and crisis management system.’

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “We intend to establish the ‘Economic Security Diplomacy Center’ to strengthen professional and systematic response capabilities to economic, technological, and security convergence issues such as supply chain and technology competition.”

A budget of 2.55 billion KRW was reflected in next year’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget, which was confirmed after passing the National Assembly plenary session on the 3rd, for the establishment of the center.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to operate the center by expanding local experts at major countries’ overseas missions along with 10 specialized researchers affiliated with the headquarters.

The center will support the ‘Economic Security Task Force’ launched at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last month, playing a role in early detection, comprehensive analysis, coordination, and response to economic security issues.

It is known that the center will be responsible for monitoring and analyzing major countries’ economic security policies, operating consultative bodies with key like-minded countries, and conducting outreach (contact and persuasion) targeting foreign governments and parliaments.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We will prevent and mitigate external supply chain risks to our economy and support overseas business activities of major companies,” adding, “In the process, we will also expand cooperation with various like-minded countries.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Unification has allocated 200 million KRW in next year’s budget for a fake news monitoring project. This budget, reflected for the first time by the government, will be used to monitor fake news related to North Korea.

There have been instances where false information such as rumors about the death of Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, or a coup by Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party, was spread. Additionally, fake news claiming that a large quantity of COVID-19 masks to be sent to North Korea was being produced domestically has also emerged, prompting the Ministry of Unification to respond.

It appears that the ministry plans to prepare countermeasures by entrusting experts to prevent the spread of false information amid North Korea’s closed-off situation.

However, questions about effectiveness have been raised, such as how to distinguish fake or distorted news among the vast amount of domestic and international news, how to verify the reported content, and the scope of monitoring.

In response, an official from the Ministry of Unification explained, “This project involves entrusting North Korea or unification-related specialized institutions to monitor severely false, fabricated, or distorted information,” adding, “We plan to further specify the project details in the future.”