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| ▲ South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin delivers keynote remarks through a pre-recorded video at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, on Feb. 23, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap) |
S Korea-US-economic cooperation
S. Korea-U.S. cooperation key to overcoming 'polycrisis': FM Park
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- A polycrisis cannot be overcome by any single country, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin declared Thursday, stressing the importance of cooperation between South Korea and the United States.
The top South Korean diplomat also underscored the importance of expanding U.S.-South Korea cooperation to new areas such as biotechnology, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
"A polycrisis cannot be solved by the efforts of any single country alone as economic security issues stem from various areas such as the political, economic, and technological and environmental fields," Park said in pre-recorded keynote remarks at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
"And without a doubt, in these turbulent times Korea's most important partner is the United States," he added.
Park explained a polycrisis refers to a "swarm of global emergencies," including rising inflation, the COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, that "form a global risk with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part."
He said Seoul and Washington are working to further expand their bilateral alliance into an economic, security and technology alliance. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance.
"We have always worked together, put our heads together and overcome new challenges at every stage over the last seven decades," said Park. "Korea and the United States have proved how durable and adaptive our partnership has been every day for the previous 70 years."
He listed critical, emerging technologies and supply chain resiliency as two key areas where U.S.-South Korea economic cooperation is most important.
"First, promoting critical and emerging technologies is central to economic security," he said.
To that end, the South Korean foreign ministry recently launched a new international technology rules and cooperation division to promote "bilateral and multilateral cooperation and work on building international norms related to cutting-edge and emerging technologies," according to Park.
"The two countries are in high gear to promote investments in both directions, develop clean technologies, secure reliable supply chains for critical minerals and ultimately create a mutually beneficial supply chain ecosystem," he said.
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