Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has vowed efforts to meet the government’s three-year plan to achieve a stable supply of 100 materials, components and equipment for which the country heavily depends on Japan.  

Hong made the pledge on Tuesday while explaining the plan to strengthen the competitiveness of the comparative South Korean items by 2024. 

Assessing a previous plan to stabilize the supply of the three major Japan-dependent items by last year as a success, he said the new plan will begin with efforts to stabilize the supply of 20 major such products by the year's end. 

The minister said the government will not only be satisfied with stable supplies but also will make proactive efforts to increase the nation’s role in the global value chains of the products. 

South Korea has pursued policies to lower its dependence on Japan for basic industrial items since Tokyo imposed trade restrictions of related items in July of 2019. 

The Japanese government has cited unspecified “security concerns” for implementing the export curb, but Seoul has viewed it as a retaliatory measures in response to court rulings in favor of victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.