Korea-U.S. Bilateral Energy Talks
Indications of Cooperation on Nuclear Power and Gas
Pax Silica Launched to Address 'Single Points of Failure'
The U.S. Department of State announced that, prior to the Pax Silica summit-a coalition for artificial intelligence (AI) supply chains-held on December 12 (local time), it held a separate bilateral meeting with South Korea to discuss issues including nuclear energy.
Jacob Helberg, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the State Department, responded to a related question during a briefing for foreign correspondents, stating, "Separately from the Pax Silica summit, we conducted bilateral talks, a bilateral economic dialogue." He explained, "The day before the summit, we had several engagements with our Korean counterparts, and energy issues were discussed during the bilateral talks."
Kim Jin-a, Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the Pax Silica summit as South Korea's representative.
While Under Secretary Helberg declined to provide specifics, citing the need to maintain trust between the two sides and stating that "bilateral discussions remain confidential," he added, "The United States is fully committed to supporting South Korea's energy needs, and we are actively exploring various pathways in multiple energy sectors to provide this support. This includes not only nuclear energy, but also non-nuclear energy such as natural gas and other forms of energy."
Pax Silica is a consultative body formed by the United States with key allied nations to establish an AI supply chain ecosystem. Participating countries include South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Australia. At the first meeting held on December 12, seven countries-excluding the UAE and the Netherlands-jointly signed the "Pax Silica Declaration," reflecting the agreements reached at the meeting.
Regarding questions about information sharing among Pax Silica member countries, Under Secretary Helberg said, "This is a topic we are actively considering." He added, "The first summit was held last week, and we are still in the process of figuring out which pathways we can quickly advance." He continued, "This includes not only information sharing related to individual projects, but also potential pathways to make the entire supply chain more transparent and accessible."
Explaining the background for launching the Pax Silica initiative among U.S.-led allies for the AI supply chain, Under Secretary Helberg stated, "There are currently too many single points of failure (SPOF), and too many unreliable suppliers across the supply chain, which has caused problems."
He further emphasized that Pax Silica "aims to secure semiconductor supplies, which are the lifeline of cutting-edge technologies, ranging from automobiles to smartphones to AI," and that "this will enable the implementation of numerous critical supply chain security initiatives."
The "single points of failure" mentioned by Under Secretary Helberg refer to situations where, if a specific stage in the semiconductor manufacturing process-essential for advanced industries such as AI-comes to a halt, the entire supply chain could be paralyzed. This is interpreted as a remark targeting China, which has pressured the United States through rare earth export controls.
Meanwhile, when asked whether Japan's planned $550 billion investment in the United States under a trade agreement is related to the Pax Silica project, Under Secretary Helberg clarified, "Ultimately, the $550 billion is on a separate track," and added, "At present, we do not expect these different pathways to converge into one."
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