7 out of 10 Trade Companies Say "What Is Economic Security?"

Ministry of Industry 2nd Trade and Technology Security Forum
Calls for Strategic Response through Public-Private Cooperation

Nearly 7 out of 10 Korean trading companies were found to have little awareness of 'economic security.'

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the 2nd Trade and Technology Security Forum on the 16th at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul, chaired by Jeong In-kyo, Director General of Trade Negotiations, with experts from academia and industry in the fields of trade and technology security participating.

At the forum, the Ministry, the Strategic Materials Management Institute, and the Korea International Trade Association announced the results of a survey on trade and technology security awareness conducted among Korean trading companies. The survey, conducted from the 30th of last month to the 8th of this month, received responses from 232 companies. Among the respondents, 66.7% of general trading companies reported having little awareness of economic security, with a low level of preparedness for trade security risks (38.1%) and 33.3% not taking any specific measures.

Additionally, general trading companies stated that they focus on strengthening the competitiveness of their core industries (35.7%) to respond to economic security, and they responded that the government should urgently implement policies to prevent illegal technology leakage (69%) and to strengthen diplomatic and trade cooperation among major countries (69%).

The forum members emphasized the necessity of raising the low level of economic security awareness among domestic companies to establish economic security, and agreed that public-private cooperation and close communication are essential for this.

Director General Jeong said, "Future trade policies need to be established with economic security at the center," adding, "Since domestic security awareness is still low, the public and private sectors should closely communicate to build consensus on the necessity of economic security strategies and work together to implement them."

The Ministry plans to establish and announce the 'Trade and Technology Security Strategy' in March after further collecting opinions through forum subcommittee meetings and expert consultations based on the survey results.