South Korea’s Reliance on China for Auto Parts Leads to Calls for Supply Chain Diversification

A worker with car batteries at a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Co. Ltd, which makes lithium batteries for electric cars and other uses, in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu Province, on March 12, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

South Korea’s auto industry has become increasingly dependent on China for parts, leading to calls for supply chain diversification.

Cho Chul, an analyst with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), a government-funded think tank, recently highlighted how automobile parts imports from China have increased over the past two decades.