South Korean foreign minister Park Jin has said Seoul is expected to attend a preliminary meeting of the four which have major chip manufacturers, describing the gathering as US led.

He did not elaborate on what would be discussed.

The timing, location and other details of the meeting have yet to decided, said a South Korean official who was not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.

Taiwan’s economy ministry said in a statement to Reuters late on Thursday it did not yet have any relevant information about the meeting.

“In past exchanges and dialogue, the US did propose similar ideas, but there was no specific content at the time,” it added.

Taiwan is a major semiconductor producer and home to the world’s largest contract chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, a major Apple Inc supplier.

It has been keen to show the US, its most important international backer at a time of rising military tensions between Taipei and Beijing, that it is a reliable friend and supplier as a global chip crunch affects auto production and consumer electronics.

Asked about the meeting, Japan’s cabinet secretary for public affairs, Noriyuki Shikata said semiconductors are a “very strategically important industry” for Japan and that “in due course, there may be better cooperation among the countries.”