Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Trade Minister chairs 58th Industrial Technology Protection Committee meeting

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong of the Republic of Korea chaired the 58th Industrial Technology Protection Committee (“Committee”) meeting today in Seoul for deliberation and resolution on six agenda items, including the fifth Comprehensive Plan on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology and the proposed export permit on national high-tech strategic technologies and national core technologies, as well as measures for usage of cloud service for national core technologies. First, the Committee established and passed the fifth Comprehensive Plan on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology in view of the growing importance of technology protection amid the intensifying global race for technological hegemony and development of advanced technologies. With aim to enhance management of technologies for protection and technology-holding institutions, the Committee decided that technologies with a high need for protection are to be newly designated as national core technologies. These include promising technologies highly connected with national security and the national economy such as those for designing and manufacturing multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and synthetic aperture radars (SAR). Meanwhile, national core technologies will be included in the scope of industrial technologies for protection under the Act on Special Measures for Strengthening the Competitiveness of Materials, Components, and Equipment Industries. Institutions holding national core technologies will also be closely managed. Companies projected to hold national core technologies will be swiftly distinguished through the technology holder confirmation and registration system, while the transfer of national core technologies will be systematically monitored. Second, areas under the current evaluation system deemed inadequate will be modified to proactively respond to the ever diversifying and evolving means of technology leakage. An expert committee for industrial technology protection will oversee the evaluation on M&A areas and modified rules will allow the Korean trade, industry and energy minister to issue ex officio orders for suspension, prohibition, and restitution with regard to unauthorized or undeclared exports. As Korean companies’ exports of national core technologies are on the rise, modifications on the export deliberation system will be made to a limited extent to avoid aggravating burden on exporters. For the export of core technologies with low risk of technology leakage, the process will either be partially streamlined or exporters will be granted exemption from deliberation procedures. Moreover, to shorten the period of export deliberation, the technical evaluation period will be capped to 45 days with allowance for a one-time extension of another 45 days. Third, the existing laws for punishment on technology leakage will be strengthened while legal grounds will be laid down for punishment on acts of introducing, brokering, and attracting technology leakage in order to eliminate all blind spots. Fourth, efforts will be made to bolster the security level of relatively more vulnerable universities and SMEs through catered support like the development of security infrastructure and security consulting services. In addition, relevant ministries will join hands to establish a more substantial protection system for better national R&D management and stronger protection of startups. As most technology leakages manifest through human resources, effort will go toward enhancing the management and support of key talents. Key talents in charge of national core technologies will be distinguished using big data analysis and information will be swiftly shared with relevant institutions in the case of technology leakage emergency. The Committee also discussed measures on the usage of cloud service for national core technologies to resolve i date2024-12-27

Korea’s retail industry rises 8.0% in November

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that Korea’s retail industry grew 8.0 percent year-on-year for the month of November 2024, with offline and online sales advancing 3.9 and 11.8 percent, respectively. 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. By offline retail channel, hypermarket sales increased 5.7 percent, with demand for home dining and kimchi-making driving sales of food products (up 10.2 percent), while home/living (down 2.1 percent) and non-food categories (down 3.7 percent) fell. Department store sales improved 1.4 percent on the backs of food products (up 3.8 percent) and foreign designer labels (up 7.8 percent), while fashion categories like miscellaneous goods (down 3.5 percent) and women’s suits (down 7.1 percent) continued to drop. Convenience store sales saw growth across both food (up 5.9 percent) and non-food products (up 4.1 percent), increasing 5.1 percent overall. SSM operators enjoyed sales growth of 6.8 percent centering on demand for food products (up 7.5 percent) thanks to the home dining trend and kimchi-making, but non-food products (down 0.6 percent) maintained their downward slope. Online retail sales surged 11.8 percent overall as food products (up 19.1 percent) and service/other (up 70.7 percent) achieved steady growth on the backs of robust demand for processed food products, convenience foods, food delivery services, travel packages, and e-coupons. Meanwhile, home appliances/electronics (down 9.9 percent), fashion/clothing (down 9.1 percent), and sports (down 10.7 percent) experienced declines due to impact from overseas direct purchases (ODP).   date2024-12-23

Minister Ahn visits Samsung Display's Asan plant

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea visited the Samsung Display plant in Asan on December 20 and toured the OLED panel production site and discussed OLED exports promotion policies with business leaders. date2024-12-20

Trade Minister visits biosimilars production site

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong visited Celltrion in Incheon, Korea, on December 20 and toured the biosimilars production site and discussed bio export expansion measures with business leaders. date2024-12-20

Korean government holds 3rd supply chain stabilization committee meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that the Korean government held the third Supply Chain Stabilization Committee meeting today in Seoul and finalized the “First Supply Chain Stabilization Basic Plan (2025–2027).” The First Supply Chain Stabilization Basic Plan (“Basic Plan”) was established based on the Supply Chain Stabilization Act (“Stabilization Act”) (enforced June 27, 2024), under which four major policy directions and 10 policy tasks will be pushed with an aim to reduce Korea’s economic security items’ dependence on certain countries to 50 percent or below by 2030. In his opening message, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok stated that even in the midst of escalating global supply chain uncertainties, the Government has already laid down a legal foundation through the enforcement of the Stabilization Act and launching of a supply chain committee, and with today’s establishment of the Basic Plan, Korea has completed setting up its response system against the tide of global supply chain risks. By 2027, the Government plans to pour over KRW 55 trillion into expanding domestic production, diversifying imports, advancing public stockpiling, and strengthening and protecting key technologies. Moreover, it will make special effort next year to leverage all possible means even amid difficult internal and external conditions to prepare against unexpected supply chain risks.   date2024-12-19

MOTIE Holds Emergency Real Economy Meeting

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea chaired the “Public-Private Emergency Strategic Meeting on the Real Economy” at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on December 17 in Seoul with the participation of the Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry (MOTIE)’s vice ministers and trade minister as well as economic groups and representatives of major industry associations for discussions on key industrial, energy, and trade issues. date2024-12-18

Minister attends 10th Middle-Market Entrepreneurs’ Day opening ceremony

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea attended the 10th Middle-Market Entrepreneurs’ Day opening ceremony today in Seoul with the participation of 200 attendees including Korea’s Acting President Han Duck-Soo and Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea (FOMEK) Chairman Choi Jin-shik and took part in the awarding of 44 government commendations. date2024-12-16

Korea’s January–November accumulated automobile exports log historic $64.8 bln

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that Korea’s automobile exports from January–November 2024 amounted to a record high of USD 64.8 billion. November automobile exports reached $5.6 billion (down 13.6 percent year-on-year), the second highest export value for the month on the backs of the high export growth rate attained by some of Korea’s major mid-size carmakers. However, November automobile exports overall suffered a year-on-year decline as heavy snow in the Seoul capital area reduced shipments at a couple of ports in the region. Meanwhile, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) contributed substantially to Korea’s automobile exports and domestic sales for November. HEV exports entered the $1 billion threshold for the fourth consecutive month with $1.03 billion (up 55.6 percent) and their domestic sales logged an unprecedented 50,021 units (up 21.6 percent). Total domestic automobile sales slid 7.9 percent to 147,841 units but still ranked first among this year’s monthly sales as a result of the stronger industry-wide sales promotion and the Korea Sale FESTA. Automobile production slid 7.1 percent to 344,355 units owing to the lower number of working days (-1 weekday) and setbacks in parts supply.   date2024-12-16

Korea’s ICT exports grow 14.8% in November

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced on December 15 that the export and import of Korea’s information and communications technology (ICT) goods for November 2024 achieved USD 20.5 billion and $12.4 billion, respectively, and the trade balance logged a surplus of $8.1 billion. ICT exports for the month of November advanced 14.8 percent year-on-year to enter the $20 billion thresholds for the fourth consecutive month, thanks to the strong performance of leading items like semiconductors and computers/peripherals. The accumulated ICT export value from January–November rose 26.1 percent year-on-year to $212.4 billion. Semiconductors climbed 30.3 percent to $12.5 billion, the January–November accumulated chip exports reaching an all-time high of $127.5 billion on the backs of robust demand for both memory chips (up 52.0 percent to $8.0 billion) and system chips (up 1.9 percent to $4.0 billion). Computers/peripherals leaped 98.6 percent, driven by steep demand for solid-state drives (SSDs) (up 194.2 percent to $1.2 billion). By region, ICT exports to China (including Hong Kong) inched down 2.2 percent to $7.9 billion as those of mobile phones and displays decreased. Exports to Vietnam (up 5.7percent to $3.3 billion) improved for the 16th consecutive month, led by semiconductors and mobile phones. Exports to the U.S. (up 47.5 percent to $3.0 billion) expanded for the 13th consecutive month as semiconductors (up 109.8 percent to $1.1 billion) and computers/peripherals (up 350.8 percent to $0.8 billion) surged, boosted by demand for servers and datacenters. EU-bound ICT exports (up 5.7 percent to $1.1 billion) continued their upward trajectory for the ninth consecutive month, with mobile phones (up 68.1 percent to $0.2 billion) and computers/peripherals (up 71.3 percent to $0.3 billion) at the helm. Exports to Japan (down 4.5 percent to $0.3 billion) shrank despite growth of semiconductors and displays as shipments of items like computers/peripherals decreased.   date2024-12-16

KATS Holds 58th technical regulation committee meeting

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea held the 58th Technical Regulation Committee (“Committee”) meeting today in Seoul for discussions on the proposed plan to review the effectiveness of conformity assessment for the upcoming Phase 3 (2025–2027). To ease burden on businesses, KATS has been evaluating the impact of newly introduced or tightened technical regulations on firms since 2013 in accordance with the Framework Act on Administrative Regulation. Since 2019, it has also been reviewing the need for the continued existence of legal certification systems once every three years in accordance with the Framework Act on National Standards. KATS runs the Committee under these objectives comprising private technical regulations experts. In compliance with the Framework Act on National Standards, KATS reviewed 250 certification systems from 2019–2022 and in 2024, the Bureau of Regulatory Innovation and Reform under the Office for Government Coordination reviewed 257 certification systems. Today’s discussions covered measures for private experts and stakeholders to review systems requiring numerous certifications and impose a heavy burden on businesses and citizens, with an aim to overhaul certification systems that are lacking in terms of effectiveness and tend to impede corporate innovation. Attendees also discussed plans with regard to reinforcing the Committee’s mandatory public-private joint review process to curb the further creation of new certifications and modify related rules to allow businesspersons to participate in the Committee to better incorporate onsite opinions. Socially controversial technical regulations and certification system revision measures may be obligated to undergo a Committee review. KATS plans to table the abovementioned proposal to review the effectiveness of conformity assessment for the upcoming Phase 3 (2025–2027) and other key agendas to the Committee. date2024-12-13