Korea elected as inaugural chair of crisis response network

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said on Tuesday that the country was elected as the inaugural chair of a body dedicated to addressing supply chain crises under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Korea will lead the Crisis Response Network (CRN), one of three arms of the IPEF‘s Supply Chain Agreement, according to the industry ministry. Japan will serve as the vice chair of the CRN.

The IPEF was launched in May 2022 under the leadership of the Joe Biden administration in the United States, aiming to counter China’s influence in the region and build an economy and trade order centered around the participating countries. The framework includes 14 countries: the United States, Korea, Japan, Australia, India, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, and Fiji, among others.

The CRN, along with the Supply Chain Council and the Labor Rights Advisory Board, forms the IPEF’s three major arms. It convenes emergency meetings when supply chain disruptions occur to seek cooperation measures among the 14 member countries. An emergency meeting will be held within 15 days if any member country requests it and if the issue is critical, the meeting can be elevated to the ministerial or summit level.

The CRN also engages in activities to strengthen member countries’ supply chain response capabilities. These activities include developing response strategies for potential disruptions, conducting regular simulation exercises, and evaluating existing policies and experiences.

The industry ministry highlighted the significance of Japan, a country with a high supply chain dependency on Korea, being elected as the vice-chair. This will establish a cooperative framework for global supply chain management led by the two countries.

“A meeting is scheduled for September 2024 in Washington, D.C., where we plan to conduct a simulation exercise on one of the items that previously experienced disruption,” a government official said.