South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the mining industry have agreed to cooperate to stabilise critical minerals supply chains. The ministry said on Tuesday it discussed public-private cooperation measures at a New Year gathering for the mining industry.

About 200 key figures from the mining industry attended the event, including Yoon Chang-hyun, director general for resource industry policy, lawmaker Lee Cheol-gyu, the head of the Korea Mining Association and the head of the Korea Mine Rehabilitation Association. It was the first official event since an amendment to the Mining Industry Act in December 2025 designated Miners' Day as a statutory commemorative day.

The government will invest 134.1 billion won this year to localise critical minerals supply chains. It will spend the budget on domestic and overseas mineral resource development and on preventing mine disasters. It will push support to foster general mining, surveys for overseas resource development, support for facilities and equipment to recycle critical minerals, stockpiling and research and development.

It will invest more than 10 billion won in particular to build a safe working environment for mine workers. It plans to prevent accidents by strengthening mine safety facilities.

The ministry awarded ministerial commendations to 25 people for contributions to the development and advancement of mining. Participants welcomed the designation of Miners' Day, saying it made it possible for the state to honour the dedication of miners.

Those who received commendations worked in a range of areas, including achieving accident-free mines, improving production efficiency and contributing to the advancement of mining. Soonhwan Kwon, a manager at Asia Cement, contributed to accident-free mines by introducing new mine safety facilities and smart mining, including remotely controlled drilling machines. Kijoong Lee, a team leader at Samyang Resource, increased production efficiency by establishing mining plans through 3D modelling and built a workplace with no accidents for 20 years.

The Korea Energy Agency's funds and lending office contributed to securing critical minerals by overhauling a policy finance support system for the minerals sector to improve the investment environment and providing loan support. Junhyuk Park, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, contributed to national efforts to secure critical minerals and stabilise supply chains by promoting participation in multilateral consultative bodies related to critical minerals, including the International Energy Agency and the Minerals Security Partnership. Minho Koo, a deputy general manager at the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp, contributed to strengthening national resource security by handling tasks including inspections and analysis of critical minerals supply chains, resource security diagnostics and assessments, and drafting a manual for responding to resource security crises.

Yoon said, "As instability in global critical minerals supply chains grows, cooperation between the government and the mining industry is more important than ever to secure a stable mineral resource supply chain, and the government will also actively support the mining industry."