Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

K-Humanoid Alliance driving new synergies across Korea’s robotics industry

Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on May 1 that the K-Humanoid Alliance (“Alliance”), launched April 10, is creating momentum for new collaboration dynamics across Korea’s robot industry ecosystem. Within three weeks of its launch, no less than four memorandums of understanding (MOUs) have been forged among participating firms, with discussions underway for multiple MOUs, purchase contracts, and joint technology development. Five domestic robot companies will be supporting the robot AI foundation model development by supplying humanoid robots to the Seoul National University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SNUAILAB) and more than 20 companies have already sought participation in the Alliance. On April 16, Rainbow Robotics and CJ Logistics sealed an MOU for joint development and commercialization of logistics robots. AeiROBOT, a multi-winner of international robotics competitions, also inked MOUs with POSCO E&C and HMD on April 16 and April 22, respectively, with plans to develop humanoid robots for construction sites and shipyards. Korea’s leading robot parts company ROBOTIS unveiled its AI humanoid walker robot during an MOU signing ceremony on April 25 with the Korea Integrated Logistics Association (KILA), signaling the firm’s entry into the humanoid robot business for automated logistics. Holiday Robotics, Blue Robin, and ROBROS are some of Korea’s robot companies engaged in ongoing discussions with major domestic manufacturers for deployment of robots at production sites. Cooperation is gaining traction between robot companies and AI experts. Rainbow Robotics, AeiROBOT, Holiday Robotics, ROBOTIS, and ROBROS are among the humanoid robot makers in Korea that plan to provide humanoid robots to SNUAILAB within this year. SNUAILAB and a group of AI experts are aiming to secure robot behavior data from these humanoid robots to conduct AI model testing and develop a general-purpose robot foundation model.  Collaboration between robot parts manufacturers and robot companies is also picking up speed. Wonik Robotics, Faraday Dynamics, and ROBOTIS are some of Korea’s robot parts makers actively involved in cooperation to develop core humanoid robot components such as robotic hands, actuators, and decelerators for joint participation in MOTIE’s R&D projects. On the occasion of the newly launched Alliance, MOTIE intends to support over 10 joint R&D projects over a five-year period to catalyze collaboration between parts makers and robot firms in view of the essential need for specialization in developing high-quality humanoid robots and securing mass production capacity. With over 20 companies seeking to join the Alliance, a humanoid fund slated for launch during the second half of this year is also receiving heated interest from the financial sector. In the near future, MOTIE plans to hold an inaugural meeting to establish rules and stipulate the assigning of different roles and collaboration measures among participants to facilitate the Alliance’s organized operation. Rules will include various guidelines concerning new membership procedures, robot AI development, joint simulator development, funding, regular exhibitions, and talent training.   date2025-05-02

Korea’s retail industry grows 9.2% in March

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that Korea’s retail industry climbed 9.2 percent year-on-year in March 2025, with offline sales falling 0.2 percent and online sales advancing 19.0 percent. MOTIE's monthly retail sales figures are based on surveys of 23 major retailers. Thirteen of them are brick-and-mortar retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four super supermarket (SSMs) operators. The remaining 10 are online retailers. A decline in consumer sentiment affected offline categories like fashion and home appliances, reducing sales at hypermarkets (down 0.2 percent) and department stores (down 2.1 percent). Meanwhile, sales at convenience stores (up 1.4 percent) and SSM operators (up 3.6 percent) increased due to their convenience in shopping local for small purchases. With the exception of food products (up 3.4 percent), hypermarkets slowed in most sales categories including home appliances/culture (down 20.2 percent), clothing (down 5.7 percent), and home/living (down 3.7 percent). Department stores likewise saw sluggish sales in all categories aside from food products (up 3.5 percent), experiencing downticks in foreign designer labels (down 2.7 percent), household goods (down 2.2 percent), miscellaneous goods (down 3.8 percent), and kids/sports (down 1.6 percent). Convenience stores and SSMs, on the other hand, enjoyed growth across both food and non-food categories. Online retail sales surged 19.0 percent, the second steepest rise since April 2024 (up 19.5 percent). Food products (up 19.4 percent) and service/other (up 78.3 percent) led the climb, driven by heightened online delivery services and demand for food delivery and e-coupons. In contrast, fashion/clothing (down 4.7 percent) and sports (down 10.1 percent) continued to slow.  Meanwhile, back-to-school demand fueled sales for home appliances/consumer electronics (up 7.8 percent) for the second consecutive month. Cosmetic products (up 7.5 percent) also maintained growth based on wider online demand.   date2025-04-29

Minister Ahn visits Samsung Electronics R&D Center in Hanoi

Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn visited Samsung Electronics R&D Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, on April 14 and received a briefing on business issues and toured major facilities, encouraging the employees. date2025-04-16

Korea’s auto exports log 2nd highest for March

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of Korea announced today that automobile production (up 1.5 percent), domestic sales (up 2.4 percent), and export value (up 1.2 percent) for the month of March 2025 all advanced year-on-year for the second consecutive month. Notably, March automobile exports reached the second highest in history for the month at $6.2 billion. The export value for the first quarter (Q1) inched down 1.3 percent year-on-year, which is attributable to last year’s high base effect and this year’s lower number of working days (-3) compared to Q1 2024. Domestic sales rose 2.7 percent to 388,294 units during Q1 2025 as a result of a base effect from last year’s sluggish domestic demand. Q1 sales of eco-friendly vehicles soared over 20 percent to 169,013 units and the total automobile production volume (1,013,485 units) breached the one-million-unit mark for the third consecutive year, driven by strong domestic demand.   date2025-04-15

Korea’s ICT exports climb 9.4% in March

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of Korea announced today that exports and imports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods for March 2025 rose 9.4 percent and 6.8 percent year-on-year, respectively, to USD 20.6 billion and $12.2 billion. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $8.4 billion. Compared to February, the month of March saw exports and trade surplus soar steeply, each advancing 24 percent and 48 percent month-on-month. It is also significant to note that exports of major ICT items gained simultaneously for the first time in eight months. Leading items like semiconductors (up 11.8 percent year-on-year), displays (up 1.3 percent), mobile phones (up 14.5 percent), and computers/peripherals (up 28.1 percent) all achieved growth, whereas communication devices (down 0.4 percent) slowed. The rebound of semiconductors is attributed to buyers’ depleting memory chip inventories and increasing demand for high value-added memory chips like HBMs and DDR5s. Displays snapped their eight-month losing streak, thanks to new mobile phone model releases and wider demand from downstream ICT industries.  Mobile phones performed strong as shipments of parts surged on the backs of demand from overseas production bases. Computers/peripherals enjoyed growth as increasing investments in servers and datacenters across the U.S. and the EU led to higher demand for storage devices. Meanwhile, communication devices inched down as a result of the diminished supply of parts for wireless communication devices. By region, Korea’s ICT exports expanded to destinations like the U.S., Vietnam, and Japan, while those to China (including Hong Kong) and the EU declined.   date2025-04-14

Korea steps up advanced technology cooperation with Germany and Switzerland

Korea’s Director General for Industrial Technology Convergence Policy Je Kyung-hee is visiting Hannover, Germany, through April 1–2 on the occasion of the Eureka Global Innovation Summit 2025 for bilateral talks with relevant countries and to seek technology cooperation measures with leading research institutions. Eureka is the world’ largest joint research platform with the participation of 48 countries, of which Korea became the first non-European and Asian country to take part in its Board of Directors (2023) as Eureka’s first non-European and only Asian country with full membership (2022). At the Eureka Global Innovation Summit, Director General Je met with Head of Directorate-General for European and International Cooperation Armin Reinartz from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany, Eureka’s co-chair, and discussed measures to strengthen Korea-Eureka cooperation and widen Korea-Germany cooperation in cutting-edge areas such as robots and semiconductors.  Director General Je also met with Marc Pauchard, Head of the Knowledge Transfer and International Programmes Division of the Swiss Innovation Agency, Innosuisse, and articulated Korea’s commitment to supporting Switzerland’s successful Eureka chairmanship through July 2025–June 2026. From April 3–4, Director General Je will be visiting the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to discuss the uncovering of new projects in industrial AI, quantum computing, robots, and other advanced technology fields, while seeking ways to leverage the Global Industry and Technology Cooperation Center established at the Fraunhofer Institute to further invigorate the global open innovation of domestic industries, academia, and research institutions. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) launched the Korea Eureka Day 2025 from April 1–2 in Hannover, Germany. Since joining Eureka in 2009 as associate member, Korea has provided the platform with funding support of KRW 250 billion spanning 250 projects in advanced bio, AI, and semiconductors. Eureka has also served as the primary platform for technology collaboration between Korean industries and the EU. This year’s Korea Eureka Day saw Korean businesses’ participation in various programs such as the Korea-Europe Innovation Forum, technical partner matchmaking, and one-on-one consulting session with Europe-based Korean engineers.   date2025-04-02

Korea’s retail industry grows 4.4% in February

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that Korea’s retail industry advanced 4.4 percent year-on-year in February 2025, with offline sales declining 7.7 percent and online sales growing 16.7 percent. MOTIE's monthly retail sales figures are based on surveys of 23 major retailers. Thirteen of them are brick-and-mortar retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four super supermarket (SSMs) operators. The remaining 10 are online retailers. With this year’s Seollal holidays landing in January and the number of working days for February coming short by a day compared to last year, retail sales across all offline channels decreased.  Hypermarkets slowed in most sales categories such as food products (down 19.7 percent), home appliances/culture (down 10.9 percent), clothing (down 23.6 percent), and home/living (down 22.5 percent). Department stores showed growth in foreign designer labels (up 4.5 percent) and household goods (up 4.3 percent), while food products (down 21.2 percent), miscellaneous goods (down 6.5 percent), and kids/sports (down 7.6 percent) shrank. Convenience stores and SSMs experienced retreating sales in both food and non-food categories. As for the online retail industry, food products (up 14.9 percent) and service/other (up 76.3 percent) sales expanded on the backs of stronger online delivery services and robust demand for food delivery and e-coupons, whereas fashion/clothing (down 9.7 percent) and sports (down 9.8 percent) contracted. Meanwhile, back-to-school demand drove sales for home appliances/consumer electronics (up 3.6 percent) and helped snap their five-month downward streak.   date2025-03-25

Korea and Spain advance joint R&D cooperation in cutting-edge industries

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea and Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) held the second Korea-Spain Industrial Technology Cooperation Joint Committee (“Joint Committee”) meeting today in Madrid. Since 2015, the two countries have engaged in bilateral technology cooperation through the Eureka Network, the world’s largest R&D platform in which 48 countries around the world are participating. Under the aim to expand the scope and scale of bilateral cooperation, they established a joint R&D program in 2023 for medium to large-sized projects in line with their respective industrial strategies, funding a combined KRW 25.6 billion to joint R&D projects in areas like mobility and renewable energy. At today’s Joint Committee meeting, both sides shared the view that artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials, and semiconductors serve as critical elements across all industries. Accordingly, they selected AI and semiconductors as main technology collaboration areas for 2025 and advanced materials and nanomaterials as those for 2026 with plans to fund an estimated ₩27 billion in joint R&D. It is anticipated that this technological cooperation among Korea and Spain’s academia, industries, and research institutes will create opportunities for both countries to swiftly apply innovative technologies in various sectors to further enhance their industrial competitiveness. Following the Joint Committee, the two sides plan to continue their bilateral technological exchanges through the Korea Eureka Day slated for April in Germany this year to actively support promising joint projects.   date2025-03-05

Minister Ahn meets U.S. Senator Mark Kelly

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea met U.S. Senator Mark Kelly on February 28 (local time) in Washington D.C. and discussed measures for stronger cooperation in the shipbuilding industry. date2025-03-04

KNCP to proceed with mediation procedures on complaint filed against Oxy Reckitt Benckiser

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea held this year’s first Korean National Contact Point (KNCP) Committee meeting today and announced the primary review results over two complaints filed in accordance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.  Concerning the complaint filed against Company “A” by a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the UK, the KNCP viewed that the need for mediation is not considerable and decided to dismiss the complaint, thereby closing the case. With regard to the complaint filed against humidifier disinfectant manufacturer and seller Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, the KNCP decided to proceed forward with mediation procedures. The complaint was filed by two Korean consumers citing reasons of violation of human rights and consumer protection laws. On reviewing the statements and materials submitted, the KNCP determined that it is necessary to arbitrate the dialogue between concerned parties and initiate the mediation process. Going forward, the KNCP plans to form a mediation committee composed of civilian KNCP members and proceed with mediation procedures on the premise of relevant parties’ voluntary participation. Should the parties reach an agreement, the KNCP will announce the mediation outcomes. Should the parties fail to reach an agreement, the KNCP will announce a final statement carrying its recommendation on unsettled issues and close the case. date2025-02-25