Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

National Assembly ratifies ROK-Israel and ROK-Cambodia FTAs

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun announced on September 27 that the National Assembly has ratified Korea’s FTAs with Israel and Cambodia, respectively. The ROK-Israel FTA was finalized in August 2019 after six official negotiation rounds, and submitted to the National Assembly this January. The ROK-Cambodia FTA was finalized in February 2021 after four official negotiation rounds and submitted to the National Assembly this February. All necessary processes on Korea’s part are now compl date2022-09-29

7th round of ROK-Ecuador SECA negotiations

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on September 20 that the seventh round of negotiations for ROK-Ecuador SECA (Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement) will be held through September 20-October 5 via videoconferencing. The bilateral SECA negotiations were restarted in Seoul after a six-year hiatus, and the talks saw substantial progress in narrowing the opinion gap despite a rather long break. The seventh round of negotiations will be held entirely via videoconferen date2022-09-20

Korea attends 2nd RCEP Joint Committee Meeting

Trade, Industry and Energy FTA Negotiations Director General Lee Kyung-sik attended the 2nd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Joint Committee Meeting held on August 25 via videoconferencing with 14 RCEP member states’ representatives to discuss RCEP implementation system.   In his opening remarks, Director General Lee stated that South Korea will actively engage in the effective implementation of support for RCEP utilization of SMEs and cooperate with relevant insti date2022-08-26

Korea attends 2nd RCEP Joint Committee meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on August 25 the launching of the 2nd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Joint Committee Meeting, which was attended by approximately 40 persons from 14 member states via videoconferencing. The Korean government delegation is led by Lee Kyung-sik, MOTIE’s Director General for FTA Negotiations and includes officials of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) and Korea Customs Service (KCS). This meeting is th date2022-08-26

MOTIE holds Industry Conference in response to CHIPS Act

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang held the Semiconductors, Cars and Batteries Industry Conference (hereinafter “Conference”) in Seoul on August 25 to seek public-private joint countermeasures in response to the U.S.’ recently passed CHIPS Act (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act) and the Inflation Reduction Act. The CHIPS Act enables maximum 25 percent investment tax credits to companies making new investments in U.S. semicond date2022-08-25

Korea and Vietnam hold Ministerial talks for economic cooperation

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang held talks with Vietnamese counterpart Minister Nguyen Hong Dien on the occasion of the latter's visit to South Korea. Mentioning the two countries’ diplomatic ties establishment in 1992, Minister Lee stated that Vietnam is one of South Korea’s four major trading partners after China, the U.S. and Japan, while also being the largest trade and investment partner in the ASEAN region. South Korea's trade with Vietnam amounted to $ date2022-08-02

19th Korea-ASEAN FTA Implementation Committee Meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the 19th Korea-ASEAN FTA Implementation Committee Meeting on July 27 to discuss the furthering of free trade agreements (FTAs) and new trade order issues. MOTIE was represented by a 12-member delegation consisting of officials from relevant ministries and institutions, including MOTIE, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Korea Customs Service (KCS). The ASEAN delegation was composed of r date2022-07-28

Korea and China hold FTA follow-up negotiations on service and investment

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held Korea-China FTA service and investment follow-up negotiations at chief delegate-level on July 13 via teleconferencing. MOTIE’s chief FTA negotiator Lee Kyung-sik led the Korean delegation, and Director-General Yu Benlin of China’s Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs led the Chinese delegation, adding up to 20 attendees in total. The two countries have held nine negotiation rounds and meetings since March in date2022-07-13

Trade Minister attends Korea-U.S. Trade Cooperation Roundtable

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun attended the Korea-U.S. Trade Cooperation Roundtable on July 8 at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul to share updates on the Korea-U.S. FTA, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) launch, supply chain communication channel, CHIPS for America Act and U.S. visa quota for highly-skilled Korean workers.   The meeting was convened on the occasion of the Congressional Study Group on Korea (CSGK)’s visit to South Korea, which is co-chaired by U.S. Representatives Ami date2022-07-12

5th Korea-Singapore FTA implementation review

Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s Director-General for FTA Policy Yang Kwi-wook led the Korean delegation in the 5th Korea-Singapore FTA implementation review meeting on June 16 via videoconference to assess both sides’ implementation progress regarding the bilateral FTA enforced in 2006. The Singaporean delegation head was Director Tan Lui Hai of Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. Singapore is second in rank among ASEAN nations in terms of trade and exports, play date2022-06-17