Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Minister Sung attends Korea-Italy Business Networking Seminar in Rome

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo (center) attended the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony held at the Korea-Italy Business Networking Seminar in Rome, Italy, on October 17.At the event, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) signed an MOU for investment cooperation between the two countries. KOTRA also inked an MOU with Istituo Marangoni for the advancement of fashion design.During the ceremony, Minister Sung delivered date2018-10-18

Trade Ministry, USTR sign revised KORUS FTA

Seoul, Korea - The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer signed the revised Korea-U.S. (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement as a summit between the Korean and U.S. presidents took place in New York City on September 24 (local time). The Trade Ministry will now proceed with its remaining domestic procedures, including submitting an approval request to the Korean National Assembly. date2018-09-25

Trade Minister Kim, USTR Lighthizer sign revised KORUS FTA

Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong (left) and United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer signed the revised Korea-U.S. (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement as a summit between Korean and U.S. presidents took place in New York City on September 24.The Trade Ministry now plans to proceed with its remaining domestic procedures, including submitting an approval request to the Korean National Assembly. date2018-09-24

Trade Minister Kim chairs meeting to discuss recent trade issues and review existing trade deals

Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong (second from left) chaired a meeting to discuss recent international trade issues and review existing free trade agreements with government officials, industry representatives, and academics in Seoul on September 20.During his opening remarks at the meeting, Minister Kim said that global trade conditions are rapidly changing as a result of rising protectionism, ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute, and advancing fourth industrial revolution technologies.The Ministry's t date2018-09-20

Korea, MERCOSUR convene first round of negotiations for trade agreement

Korean government officials led by the Trade Ministry’s Director General for Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Kim Ki-joon (center) met with their counterparts from the South American trade bloc, MERCOSUR, led by Director General for Integration and MERCOSUR Affairs of the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry Valeria Csukasi (second from left) to convene the first round of negotiations for a trade agreement between the two parties in Montevideo, Uruguay, on September 11.During the initial round of n date2018-09-12

Minister Paik delivers speech on industrial cooperation at Korea-Indonesia Business and Investment Forum

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Paik Ungyu delivered a speech on industrial cooperation at the Korea-Indonesia Business Investment Forum attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Seoul on September 10.During his welcoming remarks, Minister Paik called for strengthening cooperation between the two Asian countries in manufacturing, infrastructure, future technologies, and free and fair trade.At the forum, 15 memoranda of understanding were signed to expand and diversify areas of industri date2018-09-10

Trade Ministry publishes agreed outcomes of Korea-US FTA amendment and modification negotiations

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Office of the United States Trade Representative published the agreed outcomes of amendment and modification negotiations to the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement at 10:00 p.m. (local time) on September 3.As the first step in its domestic procedure, the Ministry will gather public comments on the Korean translations of the two protocols from September 3 to 10. The submitted comments will be reviewed for possible inclusion before finalizing the Korea date2018-09-03

Trade Minister attends 6th RCEP ministerial meeting

Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong (fifth from right in the first row) attended the sixth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) ministerial meeting held in Singapore from August 30 to 31.During the meeting, Trade Minister Kim and top trade officials from 16 countries including China, Japan, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states emphasized the importance of RCEP amid growing uncertainties in the global trade environment and reaffirmed their commitment to reach a date2018-08-31

Trade Minister meets US chief trade negotiator

Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong (right) met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to discuss the follow-ups for updating the Korea-US free trade agreement in Washington on July 27.    The two countries had reached an agreement in principle on reforming the six-year-old Korea-US trade pact in March 25 this year and since then, they have taken measures required for the signing.   The Minister also delivered Korea’s views to the U.S. chief trade negotiator on why t date2018-07-28

Trade Minister meets with NEC director to call for US car tariff exemptions

Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong (left) met Larry Kudlow, Director of the U.S. National Economic Council (NEC), in Washington on July 20 and called on the U.S. government to exempt tariffs on the imports of Korean cars and car parts.   The Minister explained to the White House economic advisor that Korea should not be subject to the Section 232 tariffs on imported autos and auto parts. He said that the country has never posed a threat to the U.S. national security as its key ally and has rem date2018-07-21