South Korea, the US and Japan will hold their inaugural meeting of industry ministers this week

SEOUL, June 23 (Yonhap) — South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to hold the first industrial ministerial meeting in Washington this week to discuss ways to strengthen trilateral cooperation on supply chains and economic security, Seoul’s industry ministry said on Sunday.

South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Japanese Trade Minister Ken Saito will hold industry-related ministerial talks in Washington on Wednesday, the first of their kind, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The planned meeting comes after President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to launch a new meeting of trade and industry ministers for annual consultations during a summit in Camp David, Maryland, last August.

“The three sides plan to discuss ways to enhance economic security in the region and industrial cooperation. They will also launch a tripartite platform for business meetings, which will be run by economic organizations of the three nations, and which will aim to strengthen cooperation between private sectors,” the ministry wrote in a statement.

During his planned visit to the U.S., Ahn will also hold one-on-one talks with Raimondo and other senior industrial and energy officials there to discuss ways to work more closely together on supply chains for major industrial materials and items, as well as in such advanced industries as semiconductors and bio – he added.