The Globalization of Corporate Supply Chains and New Challenges for the Korean Economy
Institute for Future Strategy Issue Brief Vol. 56
“The Globalization of Corporate Supply Chains and New Challenges for the Korean Economy”
This issue brief examines the global supply chain structures of Korean firms in an era of economic security and proposes new directions for future supply chain policy.
The brief argues that the global supply chain environment has undergone profound changes in recent years, driven by the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the intensification of U.S.–China strategic competition, and the expansion of extensive sanctions and tariff measures targeting advanced technologies. As a result, supply chains that were traditionally designed primarily for efficiency are now being reassessed through the lens of economic security. While existing policy discussions have largely focused on supply chains at the product, industry, or national level, the brief highlights that firms are the actual actors responsible for designing and operating supply chains. It therefore emphasizes the need for firm-level analysis as a foundation for effective policy development.
The analysis finds that the global supply chains of Korean firms are concentrated among a small number of large corporations and exhibit significant dependence on a limited group of countries, including the United States, Japan, China, Germany, and Taiwan. At the same time, the automotive and semiconductor sectors demonstrate relatively higher levels of supply chain diversification when compared with leading global competitors. The brief also notes that Korea’s current supply chain policies continue to rely heavily on voluntary participation and reactive responses, underscoring the need for continuous monitoring mechanisms and proactive risk management systems.
Based on these findings, the brief proposes several key policy recommendations: the establishment of a firm-level supply chain analysis framework; the development of an integrated database through the combination and cross-validation of commercial and public data sources with corporate survey data; proactive supply chain risk management focused on strategically important firms; and the creation of a mandatory registration track for Systemically Important Firms (SIFs). These measures are intended to strengthen Korea’s capacity to anticipate and manage supply chain risks in an increasingly uncertain global economic environment.
