The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) will carry out its biggest reorganization in 12 years, creating the Office of Industrial Resources and Security and the Director-General for Industrial AI Policy. This is to simultaneously push tasks such as responding to supply chains amid the U.S.-China tech hegemony race and converting manufacturing to artificial intelligence (AI).
MOTI said on the 23rd that a partial amendment to the enforcement decree on the organization of the Ministry of Trade and Industry was approved at a Cabinet meeting. The amendment centers on creating the Office of Industrial Resources and Security and the Director-General for Industrial AI Policy, and will take effect on the 30th. With this reorganization, MOTI will newly establish one office, one director-general post, and four divisions, and increase its headcount by 36.
The core is unifying economic and industrial security functions. MOTI will create the Office of Industrial Resources and Security to integrate and manage functions that had been dispersed within the ministry—resources industries (reporting to the Vice Minister), industrial supply chains (Bureau of Industrial Policy), and trade security (Bureau of Trade and Investment)—and have it serve as the control tower for economic security. It is the first time in 14 years that MOTI has created a permanent "office"-level unit since the Office of Industrial Resources Cooperation in 2011. The head of the Office of Industrial Resources and Security will oversee and coordinate economic security policy across the ministry in response to global supply chain uncertainties such as rare-earth export controls.
The function of converting manufacturing to AI (M.AX, Max) will also be significantly strengthened. MOTI will create the Director-General for Industrial AI Policy to oversee Max policy and place under it the Industrial AI Policy Division and the Cooperative Division for Manufacturing AI Transition (autonomous body). The existing Machinery, Robots and Manufacturing Policy Division and the Bio-Convergence Industry Division will also be restructured by integrating AI functions into the AI Machinery and Robotics Division and the AI Bio-Convergence Division.
Organizations to respond to trade and industrial issues will also be reinforced. To strengthen Korea-U.S. industrial cooperation following tariff negotiations, a Korea-U.S. Trade Cooperation Division will be newly created, and to support defense exports and the defense materials and components ecosystem, an Advanced Civil-Military Cooperation Division will also be newly created. To overcome the crisis in the petrochemical industry, the Chemical Industry Team will be expanded and reorganized into the Chemical Industry Division.
The organizational framework will also be reorganized to boost policy synergy. The Regional Economy Policy Director and the Mid-sized Enterprises Policy Director, which were under the Office of Industrial Infrastructure, will be transferred to the senior Office of Industrial Policy to strengthen linkages among industrial, regional, and mid-sized enterprise policies. The Office of Industrial Infrastructure will be reorganized into the Office of Industrial Growth, and the newly established Director-General for Industrial AI Policy and the Director-General for Advanced Industry Policy will be placed under it to support AI transition and strengthen competitiveness in advanced industries. In particular, MOTI will, for the first time, operate the Industrial Regulatory Innovation Division, which integrates regulatory reform and regulatory sandbox functions, to swiftly improve regulations that hinder the growth of corporations.
Reflecting changes in the trade environment, the names of organizations and duties related to free trade agreements will be changed to trade agreements. It is the first change in 21 years since the creation of the dedicated FTA organization in 2004.
Kim Jung-kwan, Minister of MOTI, said, "Based on our new organizational capabilities, we will play a leading role so that our industries and corporations secure an advantage amid global competition."
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