1. On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Kang Jae-kwon attended the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) Principals’ Meeting held at the London Metal Exchange (LME), which was co-hosted by the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Jose W. Fernandez, and the U.K. Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade, Minister of State for the Investment Security Unit, and Minister for Industry and Economic Security, Nusrat Ghani.

* The Minerals Security Partnership is an international cooperation partnership to stabilize and diversify the minerals supply chain, whose partners are the European Union and 13 countries (Korea, U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway and Sweden).

2. The meeting was held on the occasion of the LME Week under the theme of “Critical Minerals: Responsible Investment and Sustainable Finance” with the participation of various financial institutions and resource-rich countries as well as the MSP partners.

* Participants of the meeting

- MSP Partners: European Union and 13 countries (Korea, U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway and Sweden)

- Non-MSP members / resource-rich countries invited by the U.K.: Brazil, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, South Africa and Zambia

- Financial Institutions: London Metal Exchange (LME), Church of England Pension Fund, Citibank, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), Swedish National Pension Fund, Standard Chartered, U.K. Export Finance (UKEF), Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (US EXIM)

3. The participants of the meeting discussed ways for responsible investment in the field of critical minerals, which are essential for the development of high-tech industries and the transition to clean energy, and emphasized the importance of public-private partnership for the stable and sustainable supply of critical minerals.

4. In addition, they came to a consensus that the goal of building the sustainable and resilient global supply chain for critical minerals can be achieved by pursuing projects that meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards throughout the whole value chain cycle including exploration, processing, and recycling.

5. At this meeting, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Kang Jae-kwon introduced Korea’s cooperation to create minerals value-added industries in resource-rich countries such as Southeast Asia and support for overseas mining projects through development cooperation finance, and Korean companies’ efforts for corporate social responsibility (CSR), while noting that it is important to build trust and cooperative relationships with resource-rich countries to diversify the global supply chain.

6. Deputy Minister Kang also mentioned that the Korean government is working to increase the rate of minerals recycling to 20% by 2030 and seeking ways for international cooperation on research & development in critical minerals, and also introduced the government’s plan to hold Global Conference on Battery Recycling & Critical Minerals late next month for information-sharing and technical cooperation on minerals recycling and reuse.

7. Not only resource-rich countries but also financial institutions, for the first time, joined discussions exploring ways to promote responsible investment in minerals supply chain, and the MSP partners adopted the 「Joint Statement on Critical Mineral Supply Chain Investments and the MSP’s Commitment to ESG standards」, while agreeing to expand cooperation between the MSP and the private organizations.

8. In this regard, the MSP partners plan to expand policy support for the projects that meet the goals and principles of the MSP.

※ MSP projects (21 in total as of today)

- Fifteen projects in upstream mining and mineral extraction, four projects in midstream minerals processing, and two projects in recycling and recovery;
- One project focusing primarily on lithium; five on graphite; two on nickel; one on cobalt; one on manganese; two on copper; and nine on rare earth elements;
- Five projects in the Americas, eleven projects in Africa, three projects in Europe, and two projects in the Asia-Pacific.

9. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea is actively participating in the MSP, one of the major multilateral forums for diversifying the global minerals supply chain, and will continue diplomatic efforts to stabilize the supply and demand for critical minerals and strengthen the global minerals supply chain, while expanding support for strategic projects through private-public partnership.