South Korea, the US, and India investigate collaboration in new technologies

India, South Korea, and the US held a trilateral technology conference in Seoul on Wednesday, seemingly in reaction to China’s advancements in crucial technologies.

In order to further their common interests in national security and the economy, the three nations pledged to increase their collaboration in the area of essential and emerging technologies. By creating more robust technology supply chains and providing technological solutions for the larger Indo-Pacific area, they want to promote creativity and economic progress.

According to a statement released today, the US, India, and South Korea talked about ways to increase collaboration in the areas of advanced materials, clean energy and critical minerals, biotechnology, quantum computing, telecommunications, digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.

The statement said, “They also reaffirmed commitment to take measures to protect sensitive technologies.”

The trilateral follows the US-South Korea Next Generational Critical and Emerging Technology Dialogue in December 2023 and the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), both of which were launched in January 2023.

Lekhan Thakkar, Joint Secretary of the Secretariat of the Indian National Security Council, headed the Indian team. The US team was led by Dr. Seth Center, the US State Department’s Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technologies, and Senior Director of the US National Security Council Tarun Chhabra.

Wang Yunjong, the South Korea National Security Office’s deputy national security adviser, headed the team from South Korea.

In late 2023, the White House had pushed for the start of National Security Council and National Security Office-led discussions on important and emerging technologies with partners that shared similar views. This includes beginning in early 2024 an unofficial trilateral technology discussion with India.