Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea-U.S. roundtable on occasion of President Biden's state visit

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang co-hosted a Korea-U.S. roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on the occasion of U.S. President Joe Biden’s state visit (May 20-22) and signed the Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue MOU to deepen the existing economic relations to a partnership encompassing supply chain and high-tech. This roundtable was the sole opportunity during the state visit for bilateral public-private talks on supply chain countermeasures, tech date2022-05-24

Netflix and Korea seal $100 million investment deal to build special effects infrastructure

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun attended the ceremony held by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) marking the occasion of Netflix’s investment through a subsidiary called Scanline VFX that will inject USD 100 million over six years to build Asia’s first special effects filmmaking infrastructure in Korea. Scanline VFX is a company acquired by Netflix that specializes in special visual effects and provides services to global content creators like Warner Brothers, Marvel Stu date2022-05-23

Trade Minister attends Netflix-Korea investment notification ceremony

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun attended the Netflix-Korea investment notification ceremony on May 20, marking Netflix’s unprecedented six-year USD 100 million investment through its subsidiary Scanline VFX to develop high-tech special visual effects and virtual reality ecosystem in Korea, on the occasion of U.S. President Joe Biden’s state visit.   In his opening remarks, Minister Ahn noted that “As K-content industry exports surpassed the $11 billion thresholds in 2020 and date2022-05-20

Korea's automobile exports reach $4.4 billion in April

The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announced on May 16 that Korea’s April automobiles exports recorded 196,780 units (up 12.4 percent) and USD 4.4 billion (up 6.1 percent) in value. Despite escalating global supply chain uncertainties, Korea showed mostly robust performance in its automobile production, domestic demand, and exports compared to the previous month. Production of cars suffered year-on-year from car parts shortages, less operating days (1 less), and supply chain ho date2022-05-16

Korea's ICT exports hit all-time highs in April, expanding 16.9%

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 12 that Korea’s exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products in April advanced 16.9 percent to USD 19.9 billion, hitting record highs in both monthly and accumulated value. Imports expanded 12.4 percent to $12.1 billion, and the trade balance stood at a surplus of $7.8 billion despite external uncertainties, including the Russia-Ukraine situation and China’s lockdowns. Outbound shipments of all major date2022-05-13

Trade Minister discusses investment with Thermo Fisher Scientific for global vaccine hub

Trade Minister Yeo held a videoconference on May 9 with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a U.S. supplier of scientific instrumentation, consumables, and software services, to discuss investment prospects of establishing a life science materials production plant in Korea amid the company’s plans to expand its vaccine materials infrastructure. Thermo Fisher Scientific is a global producer of both raw and subsidiary life science materials with approximately 100,000 personnel across 60 countries. It date2022-05-11

Trade Minister attends Trade Ministers’ Meeting to discuss Ukraine support

Trade Minister Yeo attended the virtual Trade Ministers’ Meeting convened by UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne Marie Trevelyan on May 4 to discuss support for the people and economy of Ukraine.   With various other major countries’ trade leaders, Minister Yeo relayed Korea’s efforts in step with the international community to support Ukraine and sought further measures for solidarity and cooperation.   The videoconference was attended by trade rep date2022-05-06

Trade Minister attends Trade Ministers’ Meeting to discuss Ukraine support

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo attended the virtual Trade Ministers’ Meeting convened by the UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne Marie Trevelyan on May 4 to discuss support for the people and economy of Ukraine. This meeting was held to strengthen solidarity and cooperation of the international community with respect to economic recovery assistance for Ukraine, and was proposed and held by the UK government. The U.S., Germany, France, Australia, and Japan were among the partici date2022-05-06

Trade Minister holds Emergency Trade Assessment Meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)’s Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held an “Emergency Trade Assessment Meeting” on May 2 at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Seoul to examine trade and response measures amid ongoing external risks and two consecutive months of trade deficit.   Minister Yeo delivered opening remarks, and led discussions on how the Russia-Ukraine situation, China’s zero-COVID lockdowns, Indonesia’s palm oil exp date2022-05-04

Korea's exports grow 12.6% in April

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 1 that Korea’s exports in April moved up 12.6 percent to USD 57.7 billion. Imports expanded 18.6 percent to $60.4 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.7 billion. Exports in April achieved double-digit growth for the 14th consecutive month since March of 2021 in spite of Ukraine-Russia crisis, China’s zero-COVID lockdowns and previous year’s base effect. Year-on-year double-digit growth for this April is all the date2022-05-02