South Korea’s National Security Office(NSO) convened a meeting on economic issues surrounding the nation’s rare earth supply chain as China clamps down on rare earth exports amid its trade war with the United States.

Representatives from the ministries of finance, ICT, foreign affairs, industry and climate attended the meeting, with Oh Hyun-joo, third deputy director of the NSO, presiding.

According to the NSO, the officials reviewed the domestic supply and demand situation in order to secure stable supplies of the rare earth elements widely used in major tech products such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.

The office said it has been working with related ministries to improve supply chain stability for items directly related to South Korea's economy and respond to major nations' export controls.

Last week, China announced that it was expanding its regulations on exports of rare earth metals and that outbound shipments of such products sourced from Chinese mining, processing or magnet-making technologies would now require governmental authorization.