The warning against trade isolation
South Korea and Germany must strengthen their economic security while avoiding sliding into protectionism: this is the position expressed by government and business figures at the 19th Asia-Pacific Conference on the German Economy in Seoul, according to The Korea Herald. South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan warned against turning the reduction of economic vulnerabilities into a pretext for closing markets.
According to Kim, governments should not adopt the same restrictive practices they criticize elsewhere. For manufacturing and exporting economies such as South Korea and Germany, he argued, the challenge is to hold openness and resilience together, without sacrificing the former on the altar of the latter.
Global trade and tariffs: the warning from business
The panel brought together, in addition to Kim, Stefan Rouenhoff, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Siemens CEO Roland Busch and DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer. Meyer noted that world trade had held up despite wars and U.S. tariffs, supported by demand for new technologies, but warned that growing trade imbalances represent a problem.
China, he said, has become more innovative and cost-competitive, while Europe has lost ground also because its industrial policies have not adequately supported companies. Meyer warned of the risk that tariffs could backfire on European producers, raising costs and weakening export competitiveness, and called for continuous dialogue with Beijing instead of unilateral protectionist measures. In his view, globalization is transforming rather than reversing, with companies diversifying production and procurement.
Critical raw materials and industrial artificial intelligence
On critical raw materials, Kim called for closer cooperation between Seoul and Berlin to secure alternative supplies and develop processing and recycling technologies: Korea is expanding partnerships with resource-rich countries, while German engineering expertise could integrate with Korean strengths in batteries, semiconductors and materials processing. Supply security, he said, lies in trust-based interdependence, not self-sufficiency. Busch echoed: no country can easily replicate chains built and optimized over decades, and diversification requires partnerships broad enough to make alternative sources commercially sustainable.
Industrial artificial intelligence emerged as the second major opportunity. Busch said existing models are already capable of supporting industrial applications, but access to specialized manufacturing data, sector expertise and speed of implementation will determine which companies gain a competitive advantage. Rouenhoff identified industrial AI as an opportunity to regain competitiveness, calling for targeted public support and cooperation with Korea within the new high-tech bilateral framework. Kim stressed that competition is shifting from the development of models, chips and data centers to factory application: the next phase, he said, will be decided not by technology alone but by the speed with which it is turned into productivity.
