In Seoul, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves met with Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea Bang Moon-kyu. Deputy Secretary Graves congratulated Minister Bang on his recent appointment and reaffirmed the Commerce Department’s commitment to deepening commercial, trade, and investment linkages between the United States and Korea in critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors, cyber, and cloud. The Deputy Secretary and the Minister discussed boosting joint efforts to safeguard critical infrastructure and tech innovation ecosystems from threats to our national and economic security. They agreed to continue collaboration on enforcing export controls, strengthening IP protections, and countering economic coercion. The Deputy Secretary also welcomed the Korean government’s continued leadership on encouraging partners to swiftly conclude negotiations of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.