Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea's ICT exports record $14.6 billion in July

The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on August 16 that Korea's exports and imports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods for July recorded USD 14.6 billion (down 24.3 percent year-on-year) and $11.4 billion (down 13.7 percent), respectively. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $3.2 billion. ICT exports fell amid low semiconductor unit prices and slow demand for ICT devices. However, the export decline rate is gradually recovering date2023-08-16

Minister Lee discusses trade bolstering measures with U.S.' Ways & Means Committee

The Republic of Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang and Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn met with the House Committee on Ways and Means, led by Congressman Jason Smith, on July 31 in Seoul to discuss the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, energy cooperation and other Korea-U.S. industrial and trade issues. date2023-08-04

Minister Lee discusses trade bolstering measures with U.S.' Ways & Means Committee

The Republic of Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang met with the U.S. House group Ways & Means Committee headed by Chair Jason Smith on July 31 in Seoul to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, and other bilateral issues in energy, industrial and trade cooperation. A bipartisan group in charge of U.S. taxation, supply chain, free trade agreements (FTAs) and other trade policies, the Ways & Means Committee visited Korea to discuss measur date2023-08-03

Korea's July exports record trade surplus for 2nd successive month

The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on August 1 that Korea’s exports in July declined 16.5 percent year-on-year to USD 50.3 billion and imports fell 25.4 percent to $48.7 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.6 billion. July exports were negatively impacted by the slowdown of the semiconductor industry, petrochemicals and petroleum products’ unit price falls from oil price falls, and the high base effect from last year’s date2023-08-01

Korea and Africa discuss measures to expand economic cooperation

The Republic of Korea’s Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn met with African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat Secretary-General Wamkele Mene on July 26 during the latter’s visit to Seoul and discussed measures to expand Korea-Africa economic cooperation. Assessing the launching of AFCFTA as positive in that it strengthened the basis for intraregional trade, Trade Minister Ahn explained that the Korean government is pushing various trade agreements through the Economic Par date2023-07-28

Korea announces plans to create KRW 8 trillion plus CVC fund by 2025

The Republic of Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang and 42 domestic corporate venture capitals (CVC) met on July 24 at Lotte Hotel Seoul to launch a CVC alliance and unveiled plans for a joint public-private initiative to accumulate over KRW 8 trillion in a CVC fund by 2025. CVCs – venture capital funds where large and medium-sized corporations are the primary shareholders – are active forces of economic dynamism in countries like the U.S. More than 200 date2023-07-28

Korea aims to attract global talent for advanced industries' competitiveness

The Republic of Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang held the High-Tech Industries’ Global Talent Conference on July 26 where he met with highly skilled foreigners either taking their master's and doctorate programs in Korea or working in Korea’s advanced industry sectors like batteries and semiconductors, and gathered their experience and challenges. What these foreign workers and students share in common is that they made the decision to live in Korea t date2023-07-27

Minister Lee attends CVC Alliance Launching Ceremony

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang attended the Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) Alliance Launching Ceremony on July 24 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul, which was held to promote measures to invigorate CVC and form cooperative bodies within the industry for stronger collaboration. Minister Lee gave an opening message and attended the public-private joint CVC fund (1 & 2) inauguration ceremony. The event was attended by various representatives of large corporations, middle-market fi date2023-07-26

Korea and Indonesia deepen partnership in batteries and EVs

The Republic of Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s Deputy Trade Minister Jeong Dae-jin led the Korean delegation in meeting with his counterpart Edi Prio Pambudi, the Deputy Minister for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation of Indonesia, on July 24 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul to hold the 2nd Korea-Indonesia Economic Cooperation Committee Meeting and discussed measures to bolster bilateral economic cooperation. In their opening messages, both delegation heads noted th date2023-07-26

Korea designates 7 specialized complexes for national high-tech industries

The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on July 20 that it has designated seven National High-Tech Strategic Industry specialized complexes for semiconductors, secondary batteries and displays, into which a total of KRW 614 trillion of private investment will be poured by 2042. A total of 21 regions applied for the designation as a specialized complex, of which seven have been selected on the basis of the potential for industrial ecosystem developm date2023-07-24