Today, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) Ahn Duk-geun held the second United States-Korea Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue (SCCD) Ministerial Meeting. The Secretary and Minister reviewed progress made to date between Commerce and MOTIE to deepen bilateral economic and commercial cooperation between the countries.

Secretary Raimondo and Minister Ahn noted the significant, substantive progress that is being undertaken through the SCCD working groups, which include: Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chain Resilience, including Semiconductors; Dual-Use Export Controls; Healthcare and Healthcare Technologies; and the Digital Economy. They also instructed staff to continue discussions through an SCCD critical minerals Sub-Working group to deepen U.S.-Korea critical minerals supply chain collaboration.

The Secretary and Minister noted deepening semiconductor investment cooperation, including the Department of Commerce recently signing non-binding preliminary memoranda of terms with Samsung Electronics to support a state-of-the-art leading-edge ecosystem in Central Texas, and with Absolics, an affiliate of the Korea-based SKC, to support a facility in Georgia for the development of advanced packaging substrates technology. The Secretary and Minister celebrated this progress at the U.S.-Korea SCCD Semiconductor Forum, co-hosted by the Semiconductor Industry Association and Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, which was held immediately before the SCCD Ministerial meeting. The Forum highlighted U.S.-Korea semiconductor cooperation in the key areas of supply chain, workforce development, and R&D as outcomes of the SCCD.

Secretary Raimondo and Minister Ahn acknowledged the increasing momentum under the SCCD Healthcare and Healthcare Technologies working group, including a joint Commerce-MOTIE telehealth virtual showcase that was held in May 2024 with 72 attendees, and a U.S.-Korea Biopharma Roundtable at the 2024 BIO International Convention in San Diego at the beginning of June. They committed to further strengthening cooperation on healthcare innovation and supply chains between the two countries. The Secretary and Minister also acknowledged the meaningful outcomes of the Advanced Manufacturing working group, including an October 2023 Commerce-MOTIE hosted Additive Manufacturing Industry Showcase with over 100 U.S. and Korean companies who were able to learn about opportunities to compete and invest in one another’s markets.

Recognizing the need to protect our critical and emerging technologies from countries that may misuse them to undermine peace and security, the Secretary and the Minister agreed to continue existing cooperation under the Dual-Use Export Controls working group to address national security threats while minimizing supply chain disruption.

Additionally, Secretary Raimondo and Minister Ahn discussed current and future cooperation under the SCCD Digital Economy working group, including cooperation on standards-related activities, and cooperation between Korean and U.S. industrial artificial intelligence companies.

The Secretary and Minister also committed to exploring opportunities for collaboration in third countries, where governments are seeking to increase their access to investment and global markets to enhance economic opportunity for their citizens.