South Korea will join the United States and other countries to expand policy support for various case projects under way in a multilateral forum to diversify the supply chains for critical minerals, officials said Monday.

The government agreed to the plan during a Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) meeting, held in Toronto on Sunday (local time), attended by 14 other members, including Japan, Canada, France, the European Union, and Estonia, the newest member, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

The MSP was launched in 2022 by the U.S. to strengthen the global supply of and promote investment in critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel.

The alliance is largely seen as a partnership that aims to reduce the risk of dependence on China for raw materials.

Sunday’s meeting was led by Jose Fernandez, U.S. under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment. Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun attended the session as the head of the South Korean delegation.

The MSP members agr
eed to boost the policy support for some 23 case projects on clean energy transition and diversification of global supply chains.

The projects are related to the extraction, refining and recycling of critical minerals, including lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, manganese — key components of electric vehicle batteries — and other rare earth materials.

Some officials from non-MSP members in Latin America also participated in the latest meeting and discussed efforts to expand cooperation in the areas, the foreign ministry said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency