Don’t leave Korea’s tungsten unattended

Kim Jin-soo
The author is a professor at Hanyang University Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering.

Core minerals, or earth elements, make up the crucial battleground for supply chain security. They are subject to price volatility from supply crises and demand management for economic security due to the heavy ramifications on domestic industry and economy that any types of disruption pose. They are essential not only for the transition to carbon neutrality, but also bas the nuts and bolts of future key industries like semiconductors, ICT, aerospace and e-mobility as well as for the next-generation weapons system.

The United States, the European Union, Japan, and other major players are rushing to get their hands on the supply of critical minerals, which is geographically concentrated in only a few locations. The top three producing countries dominate more than 80 percent of the global supply of platinum, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements. Unlike coal and iron ore, these minerals are traded in refined form. China commands a near-monopoly over mineral processing.

The race for minerals was triggered by de-globalization and realignment of the global value chain based on ideological bias, economic blocs and alliances among likeminded states, and reshoring programs favoring domestic interests.

To sustain their manufacturing prowess, major countries are vying to reinforce their resource security. The United States institutionalized the Inflation Reduction Act and other administrative orders. The EU enacted the Critical Raw Materials Act, and Japan added minerals to its basic energy plan. Nations are working with the World Bank through investments for the Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Supply-chain Enhancement.

Last February, Korea unveiled a road map for securing core minerals. In January, a special bill on resource security passed the legislature. The Special Act on Enhancement of Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry Competitiveness was amended and the Basic Act to support supply chain and ensure economic security was enacted.

The easiest way to ensure mineral supply is self-sufficiency through production at home. Because Korea is poor in natural resources, it relies entirely on imports for coal, natural gas and bituminous coal. Self-sufficiency in minerals stopped at just 3.3 percent as of 2022. None of the crucial minerals can be found at home.

Tungsten — one of the toughest and densest metals in nature, used for chips, aerospace, defense, motor vehicles, telecommunications, medical equipment and other industries — is classified as a strategic mineral in Korea, the United States, the EU, Japan, and International Energy Agency. Yet Korea relies on China for 95 percent of its tungsten oxide.

Tungsten was once Korea’s key export commodity. A mine was discovered in Sang-dong, Yeongwol County, Gangwon, in 1916. Korea Tungsten Company, a state-owned enterprise, had been running the Sang-dong mine since Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. Until the 1960s, the tungsten mine was responsible for more than 50 percent of Korea’s exports.

The mine closed in 1994 because it could not compete with heavily subsidized Chinese tungsten. It remained idle, despite several sales, but gained traction in 2015 after it went under Almonty Industries, a global mining company focused on tungsten mining and exploration.

The breakthrough in Korea’s tungsten production, despite the dominance of Chinese commodities, was possible thanks to intense competition for resources, preemptive investment and competitive mining technology.

Sang-dong Mine is assessed to hold the world’s largest reserve of the material. Its lifespan is expected to last more than 90 years. Tungsten self-sufficiency can relieve Korea’s resource security.

Tungsten, in chemical compound and alloy form, is widely applied to aircraft, spaceships, telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, advanced weapons, motor vehicles and petrochemical processing. Tungsten manufacturing must run smoothly to contribute to our supply security and support industrial activities in various fields.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.