S. Korea's finance chief voices concerns over US info-sharing request for chipmakers

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's finance minister on Thursday voiced concerns about the US's request for Korean chipmakers to share information on their supply chains.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki relayed Korean chipmakers' concerns about Washington's request during his meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Washington D.C., according to his ministry.

The meeting was held to discuss bilateral and global economic issues, including global supply chain disruptions. It marked their first gathering since July.

The US Department of Commerce recently asked global chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics Co., to share information on inventories, demand and other details to "help improve trust and transparency within the supply chain."

Seoul's trade ministry earlier voiced similar concerns, saying that Washington's request was too vast and may include trade secrets of related firms.

While delivering local chipmakers' concerns, Hong appreciated Washington's efforts to ease global supply chain bottlenecks and proposed that the allies closely cooperate toward that goal.

They also agreed to continue to cooperate on the issue of Iran's funds frozen in Seoul. South Korea is seeking to use a Swiss channel backed by the US in a bid to use part of the money for Swiss companies' sale of humanitarian items to Iran.

Meanwhile, Hong attended a meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, an advisory body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s board of governors, to discuss the IMF's role during the pandemic.

He called for the IMF's flexible policy recommendations for measures to ease capital flow volatility as the international organization is reviewing its official stance on the issue. (Yonhap)