As the Middle East crisis drags on and instability in the supply of naphtha grows, Yeo Han-koo, head of the Office of the Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, said on the 31st that he recently made an urgent request to India to increase naphtha supplies.
The Deputy Minister said at a briefing held at the government complex in Sejong that day, "On the occasion of the 14th World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference held recently in Cameroon, Africa, I met with Minister Piyush Goyal of India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry."
Naphtha is a key feedstock for producing materials for semiconductors, automobiles and pharmaceuticals, and 45% of domestic demand depends on imports. With 77% coming from the Middle East, the item has taken a direct hit from the current war. In trade with India, Korea records a trade surplus of more than $10 billion every year, and the No. 1 item imported from India turned out to be naphtha. Naphtha accounts for 20%–21% of total imports from India.
The Deputy Minister said, "The Indian side has continuously raised concerns for years that the trade structure between the two countries is imbalanced," adding, "(Increasing naphtha imports) is part of our crisis response and an effort to balance the Korea-India trade structure."
He added, "We are at the stage of exchanging ideas in Cameroon," and said, "We plan to proceed in earnest with working-level consultations going forward."
Meanwhile, at this WTO ministerial conference, the issue of Korea's developing-country status was also raised. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said in a report on the 23rd (local time) that it was dissatisfied that four countries—Korea, Brazil, Singapore and Costa Rica—declared that they would not seek special and differential treatment (SDT) in WTO negotiations but are still maintaining their developing-country status.
Under the WTO system, developing-country status can be taken by self-declaration, and the point is that it is problematic for a country that has achieved significant economic development to maintain that status and enjoy benefits such as deferred implementation of rules or eased obligations for trade liberalization.
On this, the Deputy Minister said, "Korea already officially renounced developing-country status during the first Donald Trump administration," adding, "We are doing what is necessary." He added, "There was no serious discussion at this meeting specifically targeting Korea."