SEOUL - Officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan have held their first economic security dialogue, South Korea’s presidential office said on Tuesday.

It comes amid efforts to strengthen the resilience of supply chains and develop technology.

Though Japan and South Korea are at times uneasy neighbours, the three countries are keen to expand cooperation in various fields in the face of increased global tensions, a more assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.

“This dialogue is meaningful in expanding bilateral economic security cooperation with the US to the trilateral level,” the office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said in a statement.

“It is expected to strengthen the three countries’ major supply chain resilience and crisis response capabilities, and play a role in fostering cooperation to promote and protect key and emerging technologies.”

Mr Yoon, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to launch the talks, held in Hawaii on Monday, during a summit in November.

The US has accused China and Russia of weaponising supply chains to disrupt the global economy and stoke geopolitical tension.

At the talks in Hawaii, the officials discussed exchanges in areas including quantum, bio and space technologies, and ways to step up cooperation to stabilise supply chains for semiconductors, batteries and core minerals, Mr Yoon’s office said.

They also discussed cooperation to protect technology, data and vulnerabilities arising from economic interdependence, it added. REUTERS