Each possessing a wealth of experience and knowledge in their respective fields, 12 honorary ambassadors of foreign investment promotion for Korea from nine different countries, met in person for the first time ever, contributing to active conversations to share insights on Korea’s investment environment. The honorary ambassadors, appointed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy based on their extensive network and expertise, also discussed how the changing global economic landscape is expected to affect Korea’s business environment in the future.

The roundtable discussion was opened by Tae Hyung Kim, commissioner of Invest KOREA, and facilitated by Tae Ho Bark, president of the Lee & Ko Global Commerce Institute and professor emeritus of Seoul National University, and former minister for trade of the Korean government from 2011 to 2013.

Notably, there was a strong consensus on the need for all countries to make more efforts to stabilize the global supply chain. Korea, as a global auto and semiconductor powerhouse, will continue playing a critical role in supply chain reorganization. Particularly, in the critical mineral supply chain, Korea has now taken on the role of chair of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) which was launched in June 2022 under the aim to accelerate the development of stable and diverse critical minerals supply chains worldwide.

Climate change was also another hot topic, with Tim Yeo stressing the importance of Korea’s role in green development and recommending more investment be made into Korea’s sustainable energy industries. Tong Soo Chung proposed the idea that traditional and eco-friendly energy industries need to strengthen cooperation for a more sustainable approach in responding climate change.

All of the ambassadors agreed that Korea, as one of the most advanced markets in the world, offers favorable prospects for foreign investments over the medium to long term. They also emphasized that the second Trump administration in the United States will bring about many changes for Korea, with Thomas Byrne highlighting that whatever the case, nothing will be able undermine the strong relationship between the US and South Korean economies as well as diplomatic and military establishments.