South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and his Japanese counterpart held talks in Washington and they agreed to launch a working group on cooperation in the supply chain for clean hydrogen and ammonia, Seoul officials said Thursday.
Ahn and his Japanese counterpart, Ken Saito, also agreed to expand cooperation based on Seoul’s Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) initiative, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
South Korea and Japan vowed to expand cooperation to stabilize the global supply chain, including key minerals as well.
Seoul and Tokyo also discussed ways to enhance ties on other multilateral platforms, including the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the World Trade Organization, as well as in relationships with the U.S. and China.
“During a bilateral summit on the margins of a trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan and China last month, the leaders of the two countries highly praised progress in cooperation between Korea and Japan, and agreed to accelerate collaboration in v
arious fields, including energy, economic security, hydrogen and supply chains,” Ahn said in his opening remarks.
Based on growing bilateral ties, he expressed hope for discussions on diverse ways for cooperation.
Saito also took note of “great improvement” in relations between the two countries over the past year.
“Japan and South Korea are important neighbors that share basic values and should work together in dealing with various tasks of the international community,” he said.
“The two countries’ cooperation has taken on increasing importance for regional stability and development at a time when world situations remain uncertain due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East,” he added.
The bilateral meeting came amid the improving relationship between Seoul and Tokyo, after the Yoon administration decided last year to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without seeking contributions from the Japanese companies involved.
Ahn was visiting Washington to
participate in a trilateral ministerial meeting with the U.S. and Japan to discuss ways of strengthening three-way cooperation on supply chains and economic security.
Source: Yonhap News Agency