Korea trade ministry opens expert talks as tariff and supply risks mount

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it will hold three small-group meetings with outside trade experts this week, the first such sessions since Trade Minister Park Jung-sung took office, as protectionist measures and supply chain disruptions raise the risks facing Korean exporters.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the second meeting of its trade policy advisory committee in 2026 will run from Oct. 27 to Oct. 30, with 21 of its 30 members attending. The committee draws its members from industry, academia, research institutes and the legal sector, and operates under a presidential decree to gather private-sector views on trade policy.

The format is a relay of smaller discussions rather than a single plenary session, which the ministry said would allow more detailed debate on the changing trade environment and the main risks identified by the government.

Park told the members that trade risks are widening fast, citing shifts in the trade policies of the United States, the European Union and other major economies, as well as supply chain instability from the prolonged war in the Middle East. "In a rapidly changing trade environment, securing the stability of trade relations is more important than anything else so that our companies can operate in a predictable environment," he said.

The agenda includes managing major trade issues with key partners, expanding a strategic trade network abroad and strengthening the connection between industry, investment and trade policy.

Park said the government would listen broadly to proposals from outside experts on how to handle that restructuring. "We will broadly listen to the diverse opinions and suggestions of private-sector experts in order to respond to the reorganisation of the international trade order, including the expansion of protectionism and the fragmentation of the global market, and to effectively deal with new trade tasks such as trade imbalances," he said. The ministry said the opinions raised in this week's sessions would feed into future trade policy and its handling of major pending issues.