'11 Ministers'... Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Meeting Expands Its Role

On the 27th, Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance (center), and Ahn Deok-geun, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (to the right of the Deputy Prime Minister), along with other attending ministers, are entering the conference room at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, where the Ministerial Meeting on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness was held.

The government is significantly expanding the role of the previously ineffective ‘Ministerial Meeting on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness.’ The number of ministers attending the meeting will increase to 11, and the subcommittees will be directly led by vice ministers. This strategy is interpreted as a full-scale response to growing external uncertainties and an effort to maximize industrial competitiveness.

On the 27th, the government held the Ministerial Meeting on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness at the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and announced future operational plans focused on strengthening its role. This meeting was held for the first time in about two years since December 2022, when the acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering by Hanwha Group was discussed.

The status of the meeting is expected to change completely going forward. The number of attending ministers will double from the previous 6 to 11. The reason is the need for cross-ministerial discussions covering technology development, industrial characteristics, and infrastructure support. The Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Ministry of SMEs and Startups have been newly incorporated.

The number of subcommittees reviewing detailed matters will expand from 3 to 6. In addition to the corporate restructuring subcommittee led by the Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, five new subcommittees have been created. The overall subcommittee will be led by the First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the other subcommittees on technology, industry, innovation, and infrastructure will be managed by vice ministers of the respective ministries.

The meetings will be convened as needed under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy. Previously, meetings were only convened when domestic issues required response, but going forward, they will also be activated when urgent foreign issues or mid- to long-term industrial structure improvements arise. The scope of discussion will also shift from ‘management difficulties in key industries’ to new industries, key industries, and service industries.

The main tasks are responding to current issues and enhancing competitiveness. The government will monitor and share issues arising from the inauguration of the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump and supply chain restructuring with relevant ministries. It will also collect and resolve industry issues through investment express sessions and roundtable meetings. Furthermore, it will analyze crisis and opportunity factors tailored to industrial characteristics and derive measures to strengthen competitiveness. Plans to foster high value-added and promising industries for stable economic growth, expand investment, utilize idle sites, and build power grids will also be explored.

Regarding this reorganization, the government explained, “Our industrial policy has been supported by relevant ministries centered on their sectors, but close cooperation among ministries with policy tools was lacking,” and “It is necessary to actively respond to challenging situations such as global trade and industrial environment changes triggered by the inauguration of the new U.S. administration and use this as an opportunity to strengthen our industrial competitiveness.”