Participation of 13 Countries Including Korea, the US, and Japan
Commitment to Cooperation with Regional Countries in Supply Chain Strengthening, Digital Transformation, and Clean Energy Sectors
[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Suk-yeol urged on the 23rd at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) summit meeting, "Let us join forces to open an era of shared prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region."
President Yoon made this remark while attending the official launch ceremony and virtual summit of the U.S.-led new trade and economic cooperation body, IPEF, in the afternoon.
First, President Yoon said, "I am very pleased to be part of this meaningful occasion for sustainable growth in the Indo-Pacific region," and added, "The fact that many leaders attended today's launch ceremony itself gives us a stronger belief that the future of IPEF will be successful."
He continued, "The world is currently facing various and complex crises such as the pandemic, supply chain restructuring, climate change, and food and energy crises. These are problems that are difficult for any single country to solve independently," and stated, "Solidarity and cooperation among global countries are more necessary than ever. In this difficult situation, the launch of IPEF for the shared prosperity of regional countries is very significant."
President Yoon also clearly expressed Korea's intention to share and cooperate with regional countries based on Korea's experience of growth and development achieved through liberal democracy and a market economy system. He especially emphasized cooperation in new trade areas such as supply chain strengthening, digital transformation, and clean energy.
Accordingly, President Yoon declared, "To effectively respond to the global supply chain crisis, an international cooperation system is very important. Korea, which possesses core capabilities in advanced industries such as semiconductors, batteries, and future cars, will build a mutually beneficial supply chain with regional countries."
He also said, "The world is undergoing a huge transformation toward a digital economy. Korea has the world's best communication technology, having commercialized 5G first," and pledged, "We will lead new technological innovations such as AI, data, and 6G, and contribute to building digital infrastructure and closing the digital divide."
Furthermore, he promised, "We will actively cooperate in the fields of clean energy and decarbonization," adding, "Korea will build carbon reduction infrastructure through bold investments based on high technological capabilities in clean energy sectors such as nuclear power, hydrogen, and renewable energy, and contribute to strengthening technological capabilities."
President Yoon defined the launch of IPEF as a first step demonstrating the will for solidarity and cooperation among regional countries amid a rapidly changing economic environment, and urged, "I hope it will be pursued under the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and transparency."
Regarding China's opposition to Korea's participation in IPEF, the Korean government’s stance that "IPEF is not a means to pressure China, and it is open to China as well" seems to be in line with this. In a CNN interview released that day, President Yoon also pointed out that China's sensitive reaction to Korea's participation in IPEF is "unreasonable."
IPEF is a comprehensive economic and trade cooperation body in the Indo-Pacific region proposed by the United States. Unlike existing free trade agreements (FTAs) focused on market opening such as tariff reductions, it aims to set new norms and strengthen regional cooperation on new trade issues such as supply chains, digital, and clean energy.
At the launch declaration held at the U.S.-hosted meeting, 13 countries including Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Brunei participated. However, Indonesia was represented by Muhammad Lutfi, Minister of Trade of Indonesia.
At the launch, the leaders emphasized in the declaration, "This initiative aims to enhance the resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, growth, fairness, and competitiveness of our economies. Through this initiative, we seek to contribute to regional cooperation, stability, prosperity, development, and peace."
Accordingly, IPEF plans to conduct joint discussions on ▲establishing inclusive, free, and fair trade agreements and promoting economic activities and investment ▲building supply chains to improve resilience, sustainability, transparency, diversity, and security ▲developing clean energy technologies, pursuing decarbonization, and building sustainable and durable infrastructure ▲establishing and enforcing systems to prevent tax evasion and corruption.
The Presidential Office expects that through Korea's participation in IPEF, Korea will stabilize its supply chains, proactively lead global norms on new trade issues such as digital, and strengthen cooperation with major regional countries in supply chains and new technologies to secure future growth engines.
A Presidential Office official explained, "When the IPEF ministerial meeting is held, more detailed matters will be discussed," and added, "Our government plans to actively participate in IPEF discussions while communicating with industries and experts to strengthen industrial competitiveness through supply chain reinforcement and regional cooperation."
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