Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Overall retail sales in Korea improve 8% in May

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on June 27 that Korea’s overall retail sales in May saw a year-on-year growth of 8.0 percent as both offline and online retailers experienced sales improvement.Specifically, sales of brick-and-mortar stores inched up 1.9 percent compared to the same period last year, while those of web-based retailers jumped 18.1 percent.The Ministry releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 26 major retailers. Half of them are brick-and- date2019-06-27

Korean universities launch programs to train students in system chip design

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Cheong Seung-il (center in the front row) visited Seongnam, near Seoul, on June 25 to join the launching ceremony of new university programs aimed at training students to be experts in system semiconductor design.Starting the second semester of this year, 13 universities in Korea will offer 3rd year undergraduate courses related to chip design in existing departments such as electrical engineering. From 2021, these programs are expected to produce more th date2019-06-25

Minister Sung visits 5G-based smart office in Seoul

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo, together with Science Minister You Young-min, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae, and Health Minister Park Neung-hoo, visited a 5G smart office located in Seoul on June 20.During the visit, the Ministers observed demonstrations of various 5G-based technologies such as robot baristas, virtual meetings, and cooperative robots. The presentations were followed by a meeting between the public and private sectors that was held to promote 5G business-to-busi date2019-06-20

Seoul, Stockholm vow to cooperate in bio-health industry

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo (third from the right) visited AstraZeneca’s pharmaceutical plant in Södertälje on June 15 (local time) to attend a letter of intent (LOI) signing ceremony for cooperation in the bio-health industry on the occasion of President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Sweden.The LOI was signed between the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KoreaBio), and AstraZeneca. With the le date2019-06-17

Korea’s auto output, exports in May see year-on-year increases

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on June 13 that the Korea’s automobile production increased 4.1 percent to 366,152 vehicles in May compared to the same period last year.This growth in output was mostly attributable to higher overseas demand and more working days. The local car manufacturers are Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Ssangyong Motor, Renault Samsung Motors, Zyle Daewoo Bus, and Tata Daewoo.Exports also improved 6.1 percent year-on-year to 226,096 vehicles date2019-06-13

Korea, Norway to cooperate on shipbuilding, robotics

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo (fourth from the left) attended a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony for industrial cooperation between Korea and Norway held in Oslo on June 12 (local time).On the occasion of President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Norway, a total of four MOUs on shipbuilding and robotics were signed and two Korean ship construction technologies were approved between Seoul and Oslo’s industries.With the MOUs, concerted efforts will be m date2019-06-13

Minister Sung tours Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo (second from the left) and Science and Technology Advisor to the President Lee Kong-joo toured the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) located in Helsinki on June 11 (local time) on the occasion of President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Finland.At the research center, the top officials were briefed by FIMM’s Director Mark Daly and Research Director Johan Lundin on FinnGen, a large scale genome study, as well as digital diagn date2019-06-12

Minister Sung attends opening ceremony of ‘Startup Branch’ in Seoul

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo delivered congratulatory remarks at the opening ceremony of the “Startup Branch” held at COEX in Seoul on June 4.Cooperating with overseas branches located in cities such as Seattle, New York, and Dubai, the Startup Branch is expected to serve as a local hub that supports startups for their exports, investment, strategic alliance, and technological innovation.The Startup Branch will run a range of programs to assist growth and innovatio date2019-06-04

Korea holds nationwide seminars on manufacturing robots

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Cheong Seung-il (right) made opening remarks at a presentation seminar held to promote the use of robots in the manufacturing industry in Siheung, southwest of Seoul, on May 30.At the seminar, potential robot users were introduced to the process and effectiveness of robot implementation from companies with the best practices of robot usage. Robot makers were also present to introduce their products and explain their applications. At the same time, researc date2019-05-30

Online retail sales jump 14.1 percent in April

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 30 that sales of Korea’s online retail industry improved 14.1 percent in April compared to the same period last year. Offline retailers, on the other hand, saw a 2.9 percent decrease in sales, resulting in a 3.5 percent growth in overall retail sales.The Ministry releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 26 major retailers. Half of them are brick-and-mortar retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarke date2019-05-30