Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

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

Ministry reviews Korea-U.S. trade issues in response to election results

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release on Wednesday that it hosted an emergency meeting with other trade policy-related ministries at 2 p.m. (local time) in Seoul in other to review trade issues with its second trade partner in preparation for the victory of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump who is known for his anti-trade stance.     Led by the Ministry’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Lee Inho, the discussion of officials in the meeting extended to the date2016-11-09

Korean exports fall 3.2 percent in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in its press release on Nov 1 that South Korean exports fell 3.2 percent to  USD 4.19 billion  compared to the same month previous year, while on-year inbound shipments posted $3.48 billion, a 5.4 percent drop. Accordingly, the country's trade balance last month stood at  $7.2 billion, remaining in the black for 57 months straight.  Main factors negatively affecting the exports performance included fewer working d date2016-11-01

Minister Joo talks with OECD secretary-general Jose Angel Gurria

   Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan (left) met with OECD Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria to discuss the measures against protectionism in trade on Oct 25 in Seoul. Both sides were concerned about growing uncertainties surrounding the global economy, affected by such factors such as the prolonged global economic downturn, protectionism barring trades, BREXIT and industries suffering from oversupply issue like steel .   Minister Joo suggested that OECD condu date2016-10-28

Minister Joo proposes new approaches to bolster Korea-U.S. economic ties at meeting with U.S. business community

    South Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan  delivered a speech on bilateral benefits of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement and three new ways to bolster  the  Korea-U.S. economic  ties at  the 28th annual plenary meeting of the Korea-U.S. Business Councils, which were co-hosted by the Federation of Korea Industries and the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) in  Yeouido, Seoul, on November 10.  About  70 date2016-10-11

Minister Joo meets with Japanese business leaders

    Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan (second from right) discussed economic cooperation with over 50 delegates from Keidanren, Japan's big business interest group, led by the chairman Sadayuki Sakakibara, in Seoul on Oct 10. date2016-10-11

Korea's fresh FDI hits new record high in first 9 months of 2016

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Oct 4 that foreign direct investment newly pledged in the first nine months of this year has reached a record high of USD 15.05 billion, a 13.4 percent climb from $13.27 billion a year ago.   It marked the largest amount of FDI pledged in history for a nine-month period, surpassing the earlier record of $14.8 billion tallied over the same period in 2014. For the third quarter alone, new FDI pledges also gained 2.1 percent on-year to a date2016-10-04

Korean exports fall 5.9% in September

    Partial strikes at major automobile companies including Hyundai Motor has negatively affected the exports by 79,000 units of cars. As a result, car exports dived 24 percent compared to the same month last year, to $ 1.14 billion. Wireless device exports, such as Samsung Electronics' Galaxy note 7, plunged as well by 27.9 percent to $ 0.37 billion. The fall of four major exports, which consists of wireless devices, cars, ships and petrochemicals, led  the plunge of total monthly export. The four key industries together are responsible for $ 2.5 billion of export decrease, which amounts to 93.9 percent.     Product-wise, year-on-year statistics fell but major export products shown signs of recovery regardless of walkouts in automobile industry and fewer working days. Semiconductors enjoyed renewed demand since September 2015, thanks to global launching of new smartphones and smartphone products and month-on-month unit price increase. However last year's record of the same month was the second highest in its history, thus outbound shipment of semiconductors consequently suffered a slight on-year fall of 2.6 percent  in comparison. Computers and auto parts have also shown higher international demand with 13.3  percent and 3.5 percent  export increase, respectively.     Regionally, outbound shipments to Vietnam and Japan remained on the positive terrain with 16.9 percent and 6.3 percent climb. But exports bound to China sank 9.1 percent as well as those to U.S., 6.1 percent, and the EU, 14.5 percent.                   date2016-10-01