SEOUL– A senior U.S. diplomat said Friday that South Korea has “much more to offer” to the global economy in terms of semiconductor supply chains, as he called for stronger bilateral ties during economic talks held in Seoul.
Jose Fernandez, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, made the remarks during a meeting with Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon for the sixth Senior Economic Dialogue (SED) meant to discuss cooperation on global supply chains, energy, infrastructure and technology.
“Semiconductor shortages that were caused by COVID-19 … put a spotlight on Korea as a leader and an essential partner in global semiconductor supply chains,” Fernandez said in his opening statement at the session. “We firmly believe Korea has much more to offer to the global economy. You’ve got world class technical expertise, high-quality transparent investment and foreign legislation and more.”
He added, “This kind of cooperation brings enormous value from Korea to its partners and to the multilateral organizations, which it interacts.”
Washington seeks to bolster its relationship with Seoul and other economies in the region amid an intensifying U.S.-China rivalry.
Choi took note of the Biden administration’s initiatives, including the “Indo-Pacific economic framework,” which he said seems to be the U.S.’ “umbrella” initiative.
The plan was first proposed by Biden at the East Asia Summit in October to cover supply chain resiliency among other areas of cooperation between the U.S. and its regional partners.
Fernandez said earlier teaming up for “trusted” 5G networks will be one of the major agenda items for the meeting, expressing a U.S. desire to work with Korean companies for the next-generation telecommunication projects.
The digital infrastructure is a key battleground of Sino-U.S. competition, as Washington remains concerned about potential security risks from what it calls untrusted vendors in 5G networks, including economic espionage.
During his three-day trip to Seoul that began Wednesday, Fernandez has met with senior government officials from the trade and finance ministries as well as business leaders from major semiconductor, battery, bio and construction companies.
Fernandez also met industry leaders in semiconductor, battery, bio and construction sectors, including Samsung Electronics Co., LG Energy Solution Ltd, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., to boost business partnership between the two nations, according to industry officials.
His two-nation Asian trip, which first took him to Japan, came as the Joe Biden administration has been rallying its allies and partners to build a global supply chain less dependent on China, the world’s top manufacturing hub and a rising technological powerhouse.
Source: Yonhap News Agency