Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan chairs inaugural 'Industry and Resource Security Strategy Meeting'

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan (first from right) chairs the inaugural Industry and Resource Security Strategy Meeting at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan (first from right) chairs the inaugural Industry and Resource Security Strategy Meeting at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

The South Korean government has partnered with the private sector to address vulnerabilities in the country's energy and resource supply and develop a master plan for industry and resource security. Authorities intend to finalize a mid- to long-term roadmap for the sector — the "Basic Plan for Resource Security" — next month.

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan convened the inaugural Industry and Resource Security Strategy Meeting on Thursday at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno-gu, Seoul, alongside experts and industry representatives to discuss the direction of the roadmap.

The strategy meeting was launched as a public-private governance body aimed at fundamentally overhauling the industry and resource security framework to strengthen crisis response capabilities. Its purpose is to move beyond one-off crisis responses and restructure supply chains into a crisis-ready configuration.

The meeting included a "Resource Security Advisory Panel" composed of experts from fields including resource economics and security, international politics and trade, law and accounting, and market analysis, as well as representatives from associations covering major resource sectors, ensuring a broad range of perspectives could be heard.

Experts at the meeting recommended strengthening crisis resilience by diversifying import sources and procurement methods and expanding stockpiling capacity to reduce risks from the country's heavy dependence on resource imports.

They particularly stressed the importance of managing the full supply chain cycle — from upstream to downstream — and called for mobilizing all available policy tools at the national level to secure upstream resources.

"The global supply chain order is shifting from a just-in-time system to a just-in-case system prepared for any contingency," Kim said. "Resource security is a national task that must be meticulously prepared over a long-term horizon."

He urged experts to continue pooling their wisdom so that "the government and the private sector can unite in a spirit of community to establish resource security that will not waver under any circumstances."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to finalize the Basic Plan for Resource Security — a mid- to long-term roadmap for the sector — next month, after the strategy meeting's recommendations are reviewed and approved by the Resource Security Council.


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