South Korea Refuses to Sign G7 Document Targeting China
According to a June 18 article published by South Korea's JoongAng Daily (Japanese edition): At the G7 Summit held in Évian, France (local time), from the 15th to the 17th, leaders of participating countries adopted eight outcome documents, including "restoring balanced, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth benefiting all" and "creating a safer digital environment for minors." South Korea joined seven of these documents, with the sole exception being the text on "stabilizing critical mineral supply chains," which Japan’s Asahi Kōsuke strongly advocated. South Korea declined to sign this particular document, expressing only its stance of "supporting the G7’s efforts toward diversifying critical minerals and building resilient supply chains."
In the outcome document titled "Building a Network of Critical Mineral Supply Chains," the G7 stated: "We express deep concern over economic coercion using critical minerals, including export restrictions and retaliatory measures on critical minerals and dual-use items, which undermine economic security and resilience and contradict market principles." Furthermore, the statement noted: "For rare earth elements and permanent magnets, our goal is to reduce reliance on a single non-G7 and non-partner country to below 60% by 2030, followed by continued reduction, aiming to reach 50% as early as possible."
Although China is not explicitly named in the document, it is clearly aimed at China.
In reality, China dominates approximately 60–70% of global rare earth mining and produces over 90% of permanent magnets worldwide. Therefore, the phrase in the G7 outcome document—"a single supplier outside the G7 and partner countries"—is widely interpreted as referring to China.
The G7 leaders also mentioned "arbitrary export restrictions," pointing to China’s imposition of rare earth export controls during its trade disputes with the United States. In other words, this outcome document can be seen as a declaration by Western-led G7 nations of a "de-China supply chain" strategy.
In response, Dr. Jeong Hyeong-geun, Senior Research Fellow at the World Regional Studies Center of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, analyzed: "South Korea’s decision not to participate was made considering its diplomatic and economic relationship with China."
South Korea heavily depends on China for rare earths and permanent magnets. As of 2024, South Korea’s reliance on imported rare earths from China stood at 79.8%. Ninety percent of South Korea’s permanent magnets are produced in China. Achieving the G7 target of reducing dependency to below 60% by 2030 is already extremely challenging.
Jeong added: "While supply chain diversification is promoted, achieving this goal is far from easy. Even if South Korea joins the G7’s strategic confrontation with China, it would bring no tangible benefits."
Australia is the only non-G7 country that signed this document. With about 5% of global rare earth reserves and accounting for roughly 8% of global production, Australia ranks as the third or fourth largest producer worldwide. For G7 countries, it is essential for Australia to reduce its dependence on China in critical mineral supply chains, while Australia itself needs to align with G7 nations to strengthen its competitive edge in exporting critical minerals.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868351555530763/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.