Resource Wars and Overseas Resources Development Policies

We are now in an era in which firms active in high-tech industries and looking to dominate the market in which they compete require ready access to mineral resources. Korea’s high tech firms rely on imports of these resources — rare earths in particular — and the country as a whole is reliant on foreign sources of energy to power its engines for growth, which include the semiconductor, secondary battery, and electric vehicle (EV) industries. Moreover, these industries must seek out alternative, greener development paths. As the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, the landscape of the global energy market has shifted dramatically. Resource nationalism has emerged as an important new phenomenon, amid the intensification of geopolitical risks such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the reorganization of global supply chains due to the US-China hegemony competition. In addition, carbon neutrality and the energy transition, both global efforts to address climate change, are also affecting the resource market. And additional uncertainties loom as future crises for Korean firms looking to compete in high-tech industries. There are concerns that resource-rich countries may ban resource exports, weaponize resources, and engage in resource trade protectionism. These and other risks all serve to intensify the competition for leadership in the mineral resources supply chain. This paper explores the Korean government's policies to address those risks through overseas resources development policies. It evaluates the effectiveness of prior and existing policies, and offers a set of suggestions for effective policy reform.