South Korea seeks to withdraw from the list of ‘sensitive’ countries: Industry Minister | World News
Seoul’s industry minister said on Thursday that South Korea will work to withdraw from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) list of “sensitive” countries and expand bilateral energy cooperation.
Industry Secretary Ahn Duk-Geun made remarks during a two-day trip with U.S. officials, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“We will look for various alternatives, including excluding from the DOE list, to prevent the issue from negatively affecting local industry and technical cooperation (between South Korea and the United States),” Yonhap News Agency reported.
His travels are concerned that South Korea’s listing on its “Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List” could lead to new restrictions on scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries. This was also three weeks after his last trip to the United States
“The Ministry of Industry understands that the inclusion was raised due to technical security issues,” Ann said.
He added that the two sides will also discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation in energy such as nuclear power plants, small modular reactors and gases.
At a program meeting next week with Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arn said he will discuss the Alaska government’s plans for the gas pipeline project to assess the economic viability of the program and the role that South Korean companies decide to participate can play.
“We can see that the U.S. government has a certain firm stance on tariffs … So if we can get exemptions, we will, but if we can’t, the government will continue to negotiate with the U.S. to minimize the negative impact on the Korean industry,” he said.
In a recent speech by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to the “Dirty 15” country with high U.S. goods tariffs, it is still “unclear” whether South Korea is on the list.
“Under our bilateral free trade agreement, U.S. imports actually have zero import tax rates on the U.S., but some of the non-advocacy barriers raised by the U.S., government agencies have been working together to address these issues,” Arn said.
At a recent meeting with South Korea’s trade minister, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reportedly raised concerns about U.S. concerns that could see these issues as maltofar barriers and put pressure on South Korea, as well as pressure on South Korea.
“Because the current situation is not an immediate problem, we are working to build credibility in the United States and create the most favorable environment for the local industry when Washington announces new policies or changes to its tariff plans,” Ahn explained.
