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| President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) launch event, held in Japan, via video link at his office in Seoul, May 23. Courtesy of the Presidential Office |
By Baek Byung-yeul
The government launched a response team on Tuesday, consisting of officials from various ministries including the industry and trade ministry, finance ministry and foreign ministry, in response to the recently-launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), in order for Korea to play a leading role in the formation of the new international initiative.
On May 23, U.S. President Joe Biden launched the IPEF initiative when he was visiting Tokyo. Including Korea, a total of 14 countries joined the economic framework, which is aimed at strengthening cooperation between the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
The participating countries are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Korea, where exports account for a large portion of the national economy, plans actively to participate in the IPEF to increase its responsiveness to global issues that emerged alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, such as supply chain disruptions and climate change.
President Yoon Suk-yeol also said the country "will share experiences and cooperate across all sectors" covered under the IPEF.
"In particular, we plan to propose ways to cooperate on strengthening supply chains, transitioning to a digital economy and on clean energy and de-carbonization," he said during the launch event held online, May 23.
"Unlike traditional trade pacts that focus on tariff reduction and opening markets, the IPEF is a new type of economic cooperation platform formed to jointly respond to supply chain disruptions, the digital transformation and climate change, which have been highlighted with the pandemic," the government said.
The government's plan is for the ministries to work as one team to respond agilely to this new initiative. "In order for the country to play a leading role in the process of forming new international norms and maximize the benefits of participating in the IPEF, it is of paramount importance to establish a cooperation system between related ministries and private sector," it added.
Under this one-team system, the trade minister will handle the minister-level talks in the IPEF and in the case of the four major areas ― trade; supply chains; clean energy and carbon neutrality; and tax and anti-corruption ― the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will lead the discussions alone or jointly in consideration of the content and nature of the IPEF agenda.
