Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Trade Minister Yoo Meets with Australia’s Trade Minister

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee (right) had a meeting with Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham in Seoul on Aug 5.    The Ministers explored ways to boost trade and investment between the two countries and expand cooperation in the energy sector.   date2019-08-06

Trade Minister Yoo Attends the 8th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee (fourth from the right in the front row) attended the 8th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) intersessional ministerial meeting in Beijing from Aug 2 to 3.    During the meeting, Trade Minister Yoo met with her counterparts and discussed ways to conclude the trade pact this year. She also addressed the unfairness of Japan's recent export restriction measure to the RCEP member states and called on Japan to withdraw the move.   The me date2019-08-05

Korea’s July exports decrease 11% to $46.1 billion

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on August 1 that Korea’s exports in July decreased 11.0 percent year-on-year to USD 46.1 billion. Imports also declined 2.7 percent to $43.7 billion, and the trade balance stood at a surplus of $2.4 billion, remaining positive for 90 straight months.The decrease in exports was due to a mix of different factors: i) worsening external conditions such as the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute and Japan’s export restrictions, ii) a slowd date2019-08-01

Minister Sung meets with Pakistan’s Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo (right) had a meeting with Pakistan's Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood in Seoul on August 1.   Minister Sung and Adviser Dawood discussed ways to promote investment between the two countries and expand bilateral cooperation in the fields of infrastructure construction.   date2019-08-01

Overall retail sales in Korea increase 5% in June

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on July 30 that Korea’s overall retail sales in June grew 5.0 percent compared to the same period last year.Sales of offline retailers inched up 0.7 percent, and those of online retailers advanced 11.7 percent.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 hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and fo date2019-07-30

Letter by the ROK government regarding Japan’s plan to revise its export controls (Summary)

The government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) sent a letter to its Japanese counterpart last week to address the fact that Japan's planned amendments to its Export Trade Control Order are not based on sufficient grounds. The revisions are designed to remove the ROK from its white list for trade.Read the summary of the letter: date2019-07-30

Statement to media by Minister Sung on MOTIE's letter sent to Japan's METI

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo said in a press briefing on Wednesday that the Ministry delivered an official letter to Japan calling for the immediate restoration of normality by canceling its export restriction plan.Read the full statement: date2019-07-24

Korea’s ICT exports in June fall 22.4% to $14.8 billion

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on July 22 that Korea’s exports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods in June decreased 22.4 percent year-on-year to USD 14.8 billion.Imports inched down 0.9 percent to $8.6 billion, which made the country’s trade surplus in this sector $6.3 billion.By item, exports of semiconductors dropped 25.3 percent to $8.4 billion as demand fell for semiconductors used in servers and mobile phones. Lower prices also contrib date2019-07-22

Trade Minister Yoo delivers speech at the Korea-Israel economic forum in Seoul

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee (third from the right) delivered a keynote speech at the Korea-Israel economic forum held in Yeouido, Seoul, on July 16.   During her speech, she said Korea and Israel can boost their bilateral ties in a mutually beneficial manner, as Israel has strength in hardware and Korea in software.   Under the theme of “the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Economic Cooperation between Korea and Israel”, the forum was attended by more than 200 particip date2019-07-17

Korea’s auto exports, production post year-on-year increases in H1

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on July 16 that the Korea’s automobile exports in the first six months of this year rose 2.5 percent year-on-year to 1,246,454 vehicles. In value terms, exports improved 7.0 percent to USD 21.7 billion. This increase is largely attributable to greater demand for eco-friendly cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).For green cars, outbound shipments jumped 30.1 percent to 112,093 units mainly due to increased sales in the U.S. and the EU.T date2019-07-16