South Korea at the Crossroads of Supply Chain Wars

The world has entered an age of hyper-uncertainty, where conflicts erupt and converge simultaneously across politics, economics, the environment, technology, culture, and morality. This shift marks a transition from the age of globalization to the age of economic security, characterized by systemic changes from absolute to relative gains.

Supply chain power has emerged as a new form of power, alongside hard and soft power, demanding attention in great-power competitions. The hegemonic rivalry between the United States and China manifests as a supply chain war, with tit-for-tat economic battles fought through sanctions and export controls.

South Korea, structurally sensitive to global trading environment shifts, finds itself living inside a weaponized economy where trade and finance have become coercive instruments of leverage. The axis of great-power diplomacy has shifted from oil to critical minerals, essential for industries like electronics, automobiles, batteries, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and advanced weapons systems.

Competition between the U.S. and China over mineral-rich states intensifies, forcing every country to answer: whom do you trust, and whose supply chain will you join? The U.S.-China race in AI also plays a significant role, with data centers and semiconductor fabrication consuming enormous quantities of electricity.

South Korea must secure irreplaceable chokepoints within global supply chain networks and occupy key nodes within technology and supply chain architecture. It needs to possess leverage or bargaining chips to be treated by the U.S. and China as an indispensable, independent ally.