Cho Hyun is a career South Korean diplomat who has served as the Republic of Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs since July 19, 2025. He previously held senior posts including first and second vice minister, South Korea’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and ambassador to India and Austria/IAEA.
“Critical minerals supply chains” are the full international chains that get minerals (like lithium, cobalt, rare earths, nickel, graphite, gallium) from mining through processing and manufacture to final products; they are “critical” because they are essential to modern technologies and vulnerable to disruption. South Korea matters because it is a leading maker of semiconductors, batteries and other advanced technologies, has very high import dependence for these minerals, and has taken a leadership role in multilateral efforts (e.g., chairing the Mineral Security Partnership) to diversify and secure supplies.
Civil nuclear cooperation covers peaceful nuclear energy activities (reactors, fuel, safety, fuel cycle services) under IAEA safeguards and civilian nuclear‑cooperation agreements; nuclear‑powered submarines involve military naval reactors and propulsion technology (not electric power generation for the grid) and can raise proliferation and legal concerns because naval reactors may use highly enriched uranium (HEU) and can be outside routine safeguards. Civil cooperation is governed by IAEA safeguards and bilateral ‘‘123’’-style agreements (for U.S. partners); nuclear‑powered submarine support raises extra nonproliferation, security and sovereignty issues and typically requires special arrangements and political agreements.
In diplomacy “complete denuclearization of the DPRK” generally means dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons, production facilities (reactors, enrichment/reprocessing), and delivery systems, verifiably and irreversibly, with verification by international inspectors; steps typically discussed include negotiations on timelines, agreed steps to halt testing and production, disablement and dismantlement of facilities, accounting for past fissile material, verification/inspections (IAEA or agreed mechanisms), and linkage to security guarantees, sanctions relief and economic assistance.
U.S.–Japan–ROK trilateral cooperation is a security and diplomatic partnership among the three allies to coordinate defense, deterrence, intelligence-sharing, joint exercises, diplomatic alignment, and economic-security initiatives (e.g., supply‑chain resilience) to preserve regional stability and a free and open Indo‑Pacific.
ROK investments to “rebuild critical U.S. industries” could include spending on U.S. semiconductor fabs and materials/processing facilities, battery and EV supply‑chain plants (cathode/anode, recycling), downstream manufacturing and shipbuilding, and joint projects in critical‑minerals processing — i.e., capital investment, joint ventures or purchases that expand U.S. domestic capacity in semiconductors, batteries, advanced manufacturing and shipyards.