Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korean exports jump 6.4 percent in December

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Sunday that South Korean exports rose by 6.4 percent to USD 45.1 billion in December last year compared to the same period a year ago, while on-year imports rose by 7.3 percent to $38.1 billion. Accordingly, the trade balance in December stood at a $7 billion surplus, remaining in the positive for the 59th consecutive month.With the help of the positive growth of exports in November and December in a row, quarterly exports turned to po date2017-01-04

Korea to invest 14 trillion won into new energy projects

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 4 that it expects Korea will invest nearly 14 trillion won into emerging energy industries, primarily driven by an increase in investments by the private sector.   Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan hosted a meeting between himself, the financial sector, public sector, as well as other suppliers and business leaders, in order to share investment plans and introduce some of the new businesses that are currently date2017-01-04

Minister Joo holds second public-private talk on Korea-U.S. trade issues

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan (second from left) on December 28 hosted a second meeting between government and private experts that convened last month in order to deal with potential U.S. protectionist measures amid the incoming Trump administration. Minister Joo and roughly 40 other business leaders and heads of research institutes including Kim In-ho, chairman and CEO of Korea International Trade Association; Lee Dong-geun, executive vice chairman of Korea Chamber of Comm date2016-12-28

Vice Minister Jeong meets with Japanese business leaders in Korea

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Jeong Marn-ki (center) attended the Seoul Japan Club Leaders’ Meeting in Seoul on December 23, 2016.  The vice minister outlined his ministry’s policies for ensuring a stable economy and called for more active participation to maintain the rising trend of foreign investment. He encouraged investors to have confidence in the fundamentals of the Korean economy, stressing that the country plans to implement sound economic policies on a cons date2016-12-26

Ministry hosts emergency meeting for export policy check-up after impeachment vote

Led by the Trade-Industry-Energy MinisterJoo Hyunghwan, the Ministry hosted an urgent meeting to inspect current export environment and to predict the outlook for exports next year on Dec 13 in Seoul with key exporters and export promotion-related organizations like KOTRA and Korea Trade Insurance Corp. in its efforts to minimize the impact from the parliament’s impeachment vote against the President last Friday.    In an opening remark, Minister Joo underscored growing unce date2016-12-13

Vice Minister Woo launches task force to cope with Korea-China trade issues

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Woo Taehee (second from right) launched a task force at a pan-government level to cope with China's growing non-tariff trade barriers against Korean companies or goods on Dec 2.The decision was announced during the Korea-China trade issue monitoring session with government officials from relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Food date2016-12-02

Minister Joo stresses benefits of KOR-US FTA to U.S. biz community in Korea

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan (left) gave a speech at American Chamber of Commerce in Korea(AMCHAM) General Membership Meeting highlighting Korean government's constant effort towards bilateral economic and trade relation between Korea and the U.S. on Nov. 29. The meeting was attended also by the chairman of AMCHAM James Kim (right), as well as the president of AMCHAM John Schuldt and Ambassador Mark Lippert.   Minister Joo emphasized that Korea-US FTA has been date2016-12-01

Korean exports jump 2.7% in November

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that exports rose 2.7 percent in November, posting USD 44.5 billion, and  imports also rose 10.1 percent compared to the same month last year, posting $37.5 billion. Trade balance in November came to a $8 billion surplus, and recorded the largest monthly volume in both exports and imports since July 2015. The driving force behind this export growth is the rise of major export goods including semiconductors, petrochemi date2016-12-01

Trade Minister launches consultation committee on Korea-U.S. trade issue

Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry launched the consultation committee on Korea-U.S. trade issue with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on Nov 23 in Seoul in its effort to prepare for the tightened trade conditions with the U.S. following the election victory of Donald Trump who has held anti-trade stance.In the first committee meeting, the Trade Minister Joo (left) discussed the impact of growing protectionism across the world and the appropriate measures to cope with date2016-11-24

Minister Joo proposes new approaches to bolster Korea-U.S. economic ties to both business communities

South Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan delivered a speech on the bilateral benefits of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement and three new ways to bolster the economic ties of the two countries at the luncheon, which the Federation of Korea Industries and the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea co-hosted as a sideline event of the 28th annual plenary meeting of the Korea-U.S. Business Councils, in Yeouido, Seoul , on Nov 11.   About 70 business leaders, including Cho date2016-11-10