The State Department in Washington (Yonhap)

The United States on Thursday welcomed South Korea undertaking the one-year chair of a multinational partnership aimed at developing diverse and sustainable supply chains for critical energy minerals.

South Korea is set to start leading the Minerals Security Partnership on Monday, the State Department said. Launched in 2022, the MSP is a collaboration of 14 countries and the European Union to catalyze public and private investment in the global supply chains of critical minerals.

"The ROK has demonstrated tremendous leadership on critical minerals supply chain issues and has been an engaged and active member of the MSP," the department said in a media note, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

"The ROK government and its private sector are leading the effort to expand and diversify the supply of critical minerals and the battery supply chain. As the founding chair of the MSP, the United States looks forward to continuing to work on key critical mineral issues under the ROK's leadership," it added.

The MSP partners are Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the US and the European Union. (Yonhap)