Moon-Biden summit to produce 'tangible partnerships' on supply chains: Campbell

WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will discuss ways to address COVID-19 vaccine shortages in the South and forge "tangible partnerships" on semiconductor supply chains, White House Asia policy chief Kurt Campbell said Tuesday.

Moon is set to visit Washington for his first in-person talks with Biden set for Friday, where cooperation on coronavirus vaccines and semiconductor supplies are expected to be among the key agenda items, along with how to deal with North Korea.

"Both the United States and the ROK are world-leading nations in technology and we plan to discuss new ways for our countries to work together on these important issues," Campbell said of semiconductor cooperation between the two countries during an exclusive written interview with Yonhap News Agency.

"We face common challenges in this space, and outcomes from this summit will include tangible partnerships related to addressing supply chain security and enhancing public and private cooperation on advanced technology," he said without elaborating on the "partnerships."

This week's summit comes as the US is struggling with a semiconductor shortage amid a faster-than-anticipated economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and South Korea has been calling for US help in addressing COVID-19 vaccine shortages.

Biden had personally called for increased investment in the semiconductor and other high-tech industries in a April 12 meeting with 19 global firms, including South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co., hosted by his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

"The visit will demonstrate that these two advanced democracies, leading economies, and technological powerhouses are standing side-by-side to take on some of the most pressing challenges of our time," Campbell, the White House policy coordinator for Indo-Pacific, said of Moon's visit.

The upcoming summit will only be Biden's second in-person bilateral meeting with a foreign leader, he said.

Another key topic will be ways for the US to help South Korea with vaccine shortages, Campbell said.

"I'm sure the leaders will discuss ways the United States can support South Korea in its fight against COVID-19 and how our nations can work together and through multilateral fora to help others defeat the pandemic," he said.

Seoul earlier proposed a vaccine swap arrangement with the US to help relieve its vaccine shortages, under which the US would provide COVID-19 vaccines to South Korea and get paid later in full in vaccines when South Korea's orders arrive.

In response to a question about the possibility of turning South Korea into a vaccine production hub for Asia, Campbell said the leaders may also discuss ways to boost vaccine production.

"Our top priority is saving lives and ending the pandemic in the United States and around the world. We know that a waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights alone won't result in the scale and speed we need to make enough vaccines to end the pandemic," he said, referring to Washington's recent support for waiving IP rights of COVID-19 vaccines to bolster global production.

"We are exploring a wide range of options to help increase vaccine manufacturing and distribution around the world," Campbell said. "Both the US and South Korea are major vaccine manufacturers; we should work together toward bolstering the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines." (Yonhap)