Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

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

Korea, Germany hold seminar for cooperation in semiconductor technology

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo delivered a speech at the Korea-Germany seminar on semiconductor technology held in Seoul on May 28.At the seminar, executives from Germany’s Infineon Technologies gave presentations on semiconductor technologies used in various areas such as security, autonomous vehicles, and energy efficiency.The event was attended by some 200 representatives from industry, academia, and research institutes, including German Ambassador to Korea Stephan Auer date2019-05-28

Vice Minister Cheong discusses industrial ties with his UK counterparts in London

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Cheong Seung-il (second from the left) had a series of meetings with the UK’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Andrew Stephenson and Permanent Secretary Alex Chisholm at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in London on May 15 (local time).The two sides shared each other’s policy directions and agreed to closely cooperate in new future industries such as artificial intelligence, future cars, and biotechnology as a date2019-05-16

Korean auto industry sees improvement in exports, production in April

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 16 that the Korean auto industry exported 223,235 vehicles in April, up 3 percent from a year earlier.The improvement in exports was largely due to robust sales of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and eco-friendly vehicles in North America and Europe. In terms of value, exports grew 5.8 percent year-on-year to USD 3.8 billion.Outbound shipments of green cars were particularly strong as they amounted to 20,281 units. This 39.3 percent year- date2019-05-16

Korea strives to spur innovation in bio-health industry

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo (center in the front row) – together with Science and ICT Minister You Young-min, Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo, Food and Drug Safety Minister Lee Eui-kyung, and Economy and Finance Deputy Minister Bang Ki-sun – joined a public-private discussion for innovation in the bio-health industry in Seoul on May 15.At the meeting, the Ministers and Korean bio-health businesses explored a range of topics including securing technologi date2019-05-15

Industry Ministry hosts ‘Korea Eureka Day 2019’ in UK

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Cheong Seung-il (third from the left) delivered welcoming remarks at the opening ceremony of “Korea Eureka Day 2019” held in Manchester, UK, on May 14 (local time).During his speech, Vice Minister Cheong said in times of accelerating technological innovation and shifting global value chains, the competitiveness of products depends on that of core technologies. He also hoped that the EUREKA network would expand its scope and depth of cooperatio date2019-05-15