Lee Hyeongil: "Proactively Reinforce Supply Chain Weak Links"... Economic Security Items Expanded to 340

The government will increase the number of economic security items from 327 to 340 and select around 100 priority items for focused monitoring and financial support. It will also expand support for stockpiling strategic goods and diversifying import sources through the Supply Chain Stabilization Fund, as well as for securing overseas production bases.

On October 12, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hyeongil chaired a meeting of the Supply Chain Stabilization Committee at the Government Complex Seoul and said, "Supply chain instability has become a structural risk that must be managed on an ongoing basis, rather than a temporary variable."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hyungil speaks about reviewing external economic risks and response measures at the Foreign Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 12th. 2026.10.12 Photo by Cho Yongjun

"As we have seen in the recent Middle East situation, disruptions involving even a single item or logistics route can quickly escalate into a crisis across the economy," he said. "We must go beyond responding to short-term crises and proactively identify and reinforce weak links in supply chains." He added, "We will focus our policy capabilities on proactively identifying and firmly reinforcing vulnerable links in supply chains to build networks that can withstand external shocks."

The government has decided to expand the role of the Supply Chain Stabilization Fund. Established in September 2024, the fund has provided more than KRW 17.4 trillion in support across 153 cases to date. Going forward, it will introduce new support programs for stockpiling strategic goods and diversifying import sources, and increase investment in securing overseas production bases. Using KRW 200 billion included in next year's budget proposal, the government plans to support projects to secure overseas production bases that are important to supply chains but difficult for the private sector to fund alone.

The government will also overhaul its economic security item management system. It will add key items for advanced industries, including semiconductors, renewable energy, and aerospace, expanding the number of items under management to 340. The existing three-tier classification system will be replaced with two categories: priority management items and general management items. Around 100 priority management items will be selected, focusing on critical minerals, materials, parts and equipment, and items important to people's livelihoods. Monitoring will be strengthened through a pan-government integrated early warning system scheduled to begin pilot operations in November. The government plans to concentrate financial and tax support on priority management items, including preferential interest rates of up to 2.3 percentage points through the Supply Chain Stabilization Fund.

The government will also support efforts to secure critical technologies by using patent big data. It will analyze around 600 million global patent records to identify alternative suppliers for items and technologies that are highly dependent on particular countries, and support technology transfers to domestic companies through collaboration with domestic research institutions. It will provide companies with information on supply chain technology diversification based on patent analysis and develop supply chain patent strategy maps for each industrial sector to proactively identify areas where technology acquisition and early patent registration are needed.

To ensure stable stockpiles of automotive urea, the government will set the safety stock level at 70% and strengthen on-site inspections so that stockpiled supplies can be used immediately in the event of a supply chain crisis. The government will directly stockpile and manage some of the supplies, and expand support from participating private-sector stockpiling companies, including emergency loans and sales, in the event of a crisis. It will also encourage private-sector participation by providing additional storage fees and inventory rotation costs. The government will continue to manage the supply and demand of crude oil and naphtha amid the prolonged situation in the Middle East. It will closely monitor supply and demand trends for key items and swiftly prepare additional response measures if necessary.

Lee reiterated that the government would focus its policy capabilities on "proactively identifying and firmly reinforcing vulnerable links in supply chains," and urged committee members to offer a range of opinions so that supply chain policies would produce tangible results on the ground.

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