South Korea Moves to Reduce Reliance on China for EV Battery Metals

Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu, second from left, speaks during a meeting on Korea's supply chain stabilization at Posco Future M's graphite production facility in Sejong on Wednesday. Image via JoongAng Daily.

The South Korean government introduced new measures this week to reduce its dependence on China for 185 different critical resources, many of which are used to manufacture EV batteries.

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy announced on Wednesday new measures that aim to reduce critical resource dependence from a single country (they didn’t say China specifically, but it was implied) from the current 70% threshold to below 50% within the next six years.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.