Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Center for Creative Economy and Innovation to become a birthplace of smart factories

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 02 that the Center for Creative Economy and Innovation will play a leading role in the Smart Factory Promotion Project.     The Korea Smart Factory Foundation (KOSF), which is a supervisory body for smart factory projects, signed a project agreement with the 18 Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation located throughout the country at the KT Building in Seoul on December 2, 2015.     According to the agreement, the Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation will receive a total of 30 billion won ($27 million) and over 150 Samsung engineers from the TF over a period of two years, and convert the existing factories of over 600 SME's into a smart factory.     Both the ministry and Samsung agreed in August this year to give 15 billion won each to the TF to be used in building smart factories.     The Samsung engineers to be sent to the Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation will provide hand-on technical support through the process of identifying businesses subject to support, building the system and follow-up services.     The ministry will receive applications from SME's wishing to build a smart factory next year as early as December this year. Companies wishing to participate in this program can submit an application to the Center for Creative Economy and Innovation in their area.     * Short version date2015-12-02

Military supplies to become user-friendly fashion items

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Ministry of National Defense (MND) held an initiation report meeting on the 'Military Supply Quality and Design Improvement Project' on December 2, 2015 at the Korea Institute of Design Promotion and signed an MOU to invest a total of 600 million won ($ 540,000) over a period of 16 months.     Military supplies subject to this project include rifle slings, shovels, winter gloves, camouflage cover for bullet-proof helmet and protect date2015-12-02

Sales Trends by Major Retailers in October 2015

  □ The sales by major retailers, including those of department stores and convenience stores increased from a year earlier, while those of hypermarkets and super supermarkets fell in Oct. 2015. □ The sales of department stores had a double-digit increase for the first time in 2015 due to massive sales events such as Korea Black Friday, which took place during the first two weeks. □By product group, the sales of food, clothing, and miscellaneous goods decreased.   date2015-11-30

Automobile Industry Trends for October 2015

    □ South Korean automobile production, exports, and domestic sales numbers grew by 11.1 percent, 7.5 percent, and 18.6 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, led by a rise in exports of major export models. Domestic sales increased due to a reduction in the country’s individual consumption tax, the effect of new model launches, and strong sales of multi-purpose vehicles.   □ : Production rose by 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 405,167 units. This was caused by a decline in output following a strike in the previous year, along with a rise in domestic sales and strong exports of cars made by Kia.   □ : Domestic sales grew by 18.6 percent from a year earlier to 164,507 units. This was led by a cut in the country’s individual consumption tax, new models of the Avante, the Sportage, and others, and a steady rise in sales of multi-purpose vehicles, such as the Santa Fe, the Tucson, and the Tivoli.   - Sales of imported cars surged by 18.3 percent from a year earlier to 21,229 units. They fell by 12.7 percent over the month due to the Volkswagen emissions scandal.   □ : Exports increased by 7.5 percent from a year earlier to 259,306 units, reflecting a rise in exports of key models such as the Accent, the Soul, and the Tucson.   □ Exports of auto parts fell by 7.5 percent from a year earlier to USD 2.27 billion. This was attributable to recording their largest-ever increase in the same month in 2014. Continuing economic slowdowns in emerging countries also played a major role.   date2015-11-30

Department store sales hit record high in October 2015 after 3 years

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 26 that department store sales in October rose by 11.4 percent --- a record-high in three years --- compared to the same period of last year thanks to large-scale sale events.     This is the second time that department sales recorded a two-digit increase since August last year, when the sales rose by 10.8 percent. Department stores in Korea recorded a -1.8 percent sales increase from January to September this year.     Home appliance sales rose the most at 26.6 percent, followed by men's clothes (13.8 percent), imported brand items (12.4 percent) and women's dress (12.3 percent).     Convenience store sales also rose by 35.1 percent from the same period of last year. It's largely due to sale events, increased cigarette prices, PB sales increase and increased number of stores.     However, supermarket and SSM sales dropped by 0.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. This is because of decreased food sales since the Korean holiday season.     * Short version date2015-11-26

$ 127 mil to be invested in the development of wearable products over 5 years

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that the MOTIE and Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning will invest a total of 127 billion won ($114 million) over a period of 5 years in the promotion of the smart wearable industries.     Of the 127 billion, 111 billion won will be used in the development of wearable material and parts technology and 16 billion won in building support centers for commercialization.     The wearable technology market is sti date2015-11-25

Self-driving cars and drones controlled from 400km away now available

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 23 that with the support of the government, 7 universities and Hyundai Motor held the "Future Growth Engine Challenge Parade", where 7 self-driving cars completed the mission of driving from Yeongdong Bridge to COEX.     The cars started driving 3 minutes apart from each other to: 1) Recognize speed limits and signs while driving, 2) Recognize and stay on the lanes, 3) Recognize traffic signals and stop accordingly, 4) Change lanes and load passengers, 5) Recognize pedestrians and stop and go accordingly and 6) Evade parked vehicles.     Unlike the self-driving cars using GPS, the cars were driven based on video technology with which to control the cars indoors. The cars are designed to recognize the location with an error rate of within 15cm.     The parade was followed by drones. For the first time in Korea, drones in Marado Island were controlled 400km away in COEX, and full HD videos were transmitted on a real-time basis.     In particular, one operator was able to control a total of 5 drones at once to show that group flying is also possible.     The self-driving car and drone parades will be held again on November 29, 2015 at COEX.     * Short version date2015-11-23

K-Sale Day to be held to attract more consumers

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 19 that the "K-Sale Day" will be held from November 20 to December 15.     This event will be participated by a total of 72 departments, large supermarkets, convenience stores, member companies of the Federation of Distribution Industry, online shopping malls, large manufacturers, retailers and food service providers.     Various items including home supplies, appliances, food, electronics and clothes will be available at between 10 and 50 percent discount.     For more information, visit www.k-saleday.com.     * Short version date2015-11-19

The 2015 Engineering Education Festival to be held for engineers, manufacturers, and people

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 18 that it will sponsor the "2015 Engineering Education Festival" to be held at the Daegu EXPO between November 18 and 19. It will be held for the fourth time to encourage and support engineering students, and show a guideline for them to enter the industry after their graduation.     During the festival, engineering students at the Gachon University showcased a solution that can automatically maintain the balance of the stretcher. Their idea was to install angle and vibration sensors on the stretcher to help the medical staff always maintain the horizontal level.     The students received the Prime Minister's Award for their invention at the festival.     Meanwhile, students at the Korea University of Technology & Education introduced a new embedded system for musicians. Using this system, an LED display can be embedded on a guitar to show the notes so that the guitarist doesn't have to have a sheet music to practice the music. Including these two, a total of five inventions received the MOTIE Award.     At the festival, college students can compete with their new and innovative engineering ideas, show their capstone designs and also get the chance to participate in global engineering conferences.     This year's festival was participated by more than 20,000 students and professors from over 120 colleges of engineering, as well as engineers from Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics.     * Short version date2015-11-18

The 2nd special sale season to be launched for Chinese online shoppers

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 10 that Korean online shopping malls have agreed to launch the 2nd Special Sale Season for Chinese shoppers between November 26 and 28.     In the first season between August 19 and 21, a total of 17 Korean online shopping malls put their items on discount, and more than 410,000 Chinese shoppers visited their sites and purchased over 1.5 billion won ($1.35 million) worth of goods, which is about 3.7 times more than the total sales during the same period in the previous year.     The only problem was that a majority of Chinese is not familiar with these sites.     To remedy this situation, they have recruited five big online shopping malls that are currently operating in China in addition to 19 shopping malls operating in South Korea, so more Chinese will be aware of the sale season.     This time the online shopping malls will promote their sale by using web ads, with the appearance of the "hallyu star" Lee Da-Hae, a Korean actress popular in China.     * Short version date2015-11-10