Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki voiced concerns about the possibility of trade secrets being shared after Washington requested South Korean chipmakers share information on their supply chains.

This came during Hong's meeting with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen in Washington on Thursday, where the two officials discussed bilateral and global economic issues, including global supply chain disruptions.

The U.S. Department of Commerce last month asked global chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, to submit information on inventories, demand and sales in 45 days to "help improve trust and transparency within the supply chain."

Hong suggested that the two countries closely cooperate on the supply chain issue through a bilateral channel established following a leaders' summit in May.

The officials also agreed to work together to settle remaining issues regarding a new global corporate tax scheme, as well as Iran's funds which are frozen at South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions.