Director General Park Jungseong: "Steel Overcapacity Response Must Not Lead to Protectionism"

Attends G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting
GFSEC’s 28 Member Countries Adopt Joint Ministerial Statement and Basic Agreement
Holds Consecutive Bilateral Talks with Major Countries Including the United States, China, and the EU

Jungseong Park, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the "Future of the New Trade Order: Korea's Opportunities and Challenges Seminar" held at the FKI Tower in Yeouido, Seoul on August 31, 2026. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

Jungseong Park, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, emphasized the need for trade remedies based on WTO rules and market-based restructuring in response to global overproduction at the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting.

According to the ministry on October 2, Park attended the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, from August 30 to September 1, 2026, where he discussed measures to address global supply chains and key trade issues.

At the main G20 session, Park participated in discussions on several topics, including the weaponization of food through coercive trade measures, structural overcapacity and overproduction, Most-Favored Nation (MFN) reforms, and the elimination of forced labor in global supply chains.

Notably, at the High-Level Meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) held on August 30, Park discussed international cooperation measures to tackle the growing global overcapacity issue in the steel sector. GFSEC, founded in 2016 to address global steel overcapacity, currently includes 28 countries such as Korea, the United States, the European Union (EU), and Japan.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects that global steel overcapacity will rise from 641 million tons in 2025 to 745 million tons by 2028, the highest level in the past decade. Steel overcapacity is calculated by subtracting demand from crude steel production facilities.

GFSEC member countries agreed that the overproduction by certain non-member countries is causing difficulties for domestic steel industries and adopted a joint ministerial statement and a basic agreement to address overcapacity and restore fair competition. The basic agreement includes provisions for information sharing on overcapacity, collecting data on crude steel origins, and cooperation on trade remedies.

During the meeting, Park stressed, "To resolve overcapacity, it is important to adhere to fundamental principles, such as voluntary corporate restructuring and the implementation of trade remedies in accordance with WTO rules."

He also emphasized that national responses to overcapacity should not lead to excessive protectionism. Park stated, "Efforts by GFSEC member countries to maintain a healthy market order must not be distorted into overprotection that goes beyond international norms."

He further introduced Korea’s steel industry policy direction, including voluntary rationalization of facilities by companies, fostering conditions for fair competition, and securing future competitiveness through low-carbon and high value-added strategies. Park also called for cooperation among member countries in building resilient supply chains.

During the G20 meeting, Park also held bilateral talks with major countries including the United States, China, EU, United Kingdom, Japan, India, Türkiye, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil. They discussed issues such as free trade agreements (FTAs), supply chain and economic security, industrial and resource cooperation, and trade issues faced by Korean companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.