The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment signed a memorandum of understanding Friday to align policy on spent electric vehicle (EV) batteries, seeking to bolster national supply chains for critical battery minerals. The agreement was formalized Friday at the Korea Productivity Center in Seoul, in a ceremony attended by Vice Minister of Industry Moon Shin-hak and First Vice Minister of Energy Kum Han-seung. Because decommissioned EV batteries retain significant amounts of lithium, nickel and cobalt — minerals essential to battery production—their collection and reuse have evolved from a matter of waste management into a core component of national resource security, officials said. Under the framework, the two agencies will integrate their respective tracking systems — one overseen by the industry ministry for distribution and reuse, and the other managed by the environment ministry for lifecycle carbon footprinting and recycling — into a unified platform for tracking and trading spent batteries. The agencies will also harmon