Korea denies report US refused it export-control exemption

South Korea's industry ministry on Tuesday denied a newspaper report that the United States had refused to add the country to an export-control exemption programme, saying Seoul has met the requirements and is pressing Washington to list it.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was responding to a Chosun Ilbo article that said Washington had rejected Korea's entry into a waiver scheme created for allies in 2024, citing concerns about technology transfers to some overseas countries.

"It is not true that we failed to receive IEC exemption from the United States because of concerns over technology transfers to some overseas countries," the ministry said in a statement.

The IEC, or Implemented Export Controls, programme took effect on Sept. 6, 2024. It waives licence requirements for shipments of designated U.S. items to countries that have adopted export controls identical to Washington's on goods the international community has agreed require controls. Its lists of covered items and eligible countries have not been updated since Dec. 2, 2024.

According to the ministry, Korea has incorporated advanced items subject to international consensus into its own control regime, and since February 2025 has had the same items reflected in domestic law, meeting the requirements for exemption status. Seoul has since asked Washington to add it to the list of exempted countries.

"Our government has been cooperating closely with the U.S. side on export-control system coordination and the blocking of illegal and circumvention exports, and we will do our best in consultations with the U.S. so that we can be included among the IEC licence-exemption countries," the ministry said.

Under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, the 40 countries in the A:1 country group, which includes Korea, are reviewed under a presumption of approval when they apply for export licences.

Seoul has been tightening its own controls to align with allied regimes. On Sept. 1, 2026, the ministry began enforcing a revision to its strategic goods export and import notice that incorporates more than 80 amendments from four international export-control regimes, adding advanced dual-use items already controlled by the United States, the European Union and Japan to Korea's national control list, including integrated circuits for high-performance artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.