South Korea has taken on the chairmanship of the U.S.-proposed new criminal minerals trading bloc, dubbed the FORGE initiative. 

The foreign ministry said on Thursday that the country will assume the chairmanship of the initiative through June during a briefing on Foreign Minister Cho Hyun's participation in a U.S.-led ministerial meeting on global critical mineral supply chains.

The ministry said Thursday that the meeting was the first ministerial conference on critical mineral supply chains hosted by the U.S. State Department and that drew representatives from 56 countries across the supply chain.

Senior U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, outlined the Trump administration’s efforts and policy direction aimed at diversifying critical mineral supply chains.

Participants underscored the importance of cooperation among trusted partners amid supply chain restructuring and growing geopolitical uncertainties, agreeing on the need to accelerate multilateral collaboration.

On the occasion, the existing Minerals Security Partnership(MSP) was relaunched as the U.S.-led critical minerals trade bloc, dubbed the FORGE initiative.

Cho welcomed the initiative and pledged that, as chair, South Korea would actively work to expand cooperation among member states and identify concrete joint projects.