Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that foreign direct investments (FDIs) pledged to Korea in the first half of 2025 (Jan-Jun, acc.) decreased 14.6 percent year-on-year to USD 13.1 billion, while FDIs that actually arrived in Korea over the same period rose 2.7 percent to $7.3 billion.

By type, greenfield and M&A investment pledges declined 4.5 percent and 44.6 percent to $11.0 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively. In contrast, greenfield and M&A investment arrivals rose 4.4 percent and 0.2 percent to $4.5 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively, as investments expanded for service businesses like datacenters and hypermarkets.

By region, FDI pledges flowing in from the EU increased 14.5 percent to $2.2 billion. Those from the U.S. rose 20.2 percent to $3.1 billion, led by the retail and service sector. Meanwhile, pledges from Japan (down 25.4 percent to $2.2 billion) and China (down 39.0 percent to $1.8 billion) dropped.

By industry, FDI pledges for the manufacturing sector fell 34.5 percent to $5.3 billion as categories like electrical and electronics (down 61.6 percent to $1.4 billion) and machinery and precision medical devices (down 77.0 percent to $0.3 billion) were affected by global trade uncertainties and a reduction in domestic facility investments.

The service sector saw pledges rise 10.6 percent to $7.1 billion, led by categories like retail (up 73.3 percent to $1.3 billion) and information and communications (up 9.4 percent to $1.1 billion).