Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Minister Sung shares policy directions for 2019 with petrochemical industry leaders

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo (fourth from the right) shared the Korean government’s policy directions for 2019 with petrochemical industry leaders at a new year’s meeting in Seoul on January 8.During his congratulatory remarks, Minister Sung said that the Korean petrochemical exports that surpassed the $50 billion mark last year made a great contribution to the country’s economic growth. He attributed this achievement to active investment activities and increa date2019-01-08

FDI pledged to Korea reach record-breaking $26.9 billion in 2018

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 3 that foreign direct investments (FDI) pledged to Korea in 2018 reached a record-breaking USD 26.9 billion, up 17.2 percent from a year earlier.The increasing trend of FDI commitments continued last year, achieving more than $20 billion for four years in a row.FDI pledged through the second quarter reached a record $15.8 billion, thanks to foreign investment growth momentum that started in the fourth quarter of 2017. This led the a date2019-01-03

Korea’s trade value reaches record high of $1.1 trillion in 2018

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 1 that Korea’s trade value in 2018 reached a record high of USD 1.1 trillion, exceeding the $1 trillion mark for two straight years. The country’s annual exports posted a 5.5 percent growth to $605.5 billion, which is also an unprecedented achievement. With imports rising 11.8 percent to $535.0 billion, Korea remained as a net exporter for 10 consecutive years with a trade surplus of $70.5 billion.Compared to other years date2019-01-01

Minister Sung visits Korea’s largest port in Busan to encourage shipping industry workers

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo (second from the left) visited the city of Busan, Korea’s largest port, to encourage shipping industry workers who are at the frontline of the country’s exports on January 1.At the port, Minister Sung said that last year’s Korean exports surpassed USD 600 billion for the first time ever, which indicates that Korean businesses and their products have reached the world’s advanced level.He attributed this achievement to the dive date2019-01-01

Online retail sales register double-digit growth in November

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on December 31 that Korea’s online retail sales in November registered a double-digit growth rate of 12.7 percent compared to a year earlier. With offline retail sales declining 0.5 percent, the overall retail sales saw an improvement of 4.6 percent.Despite growth in convenience stores and super supermarkets (SSMs), brick-and-mortar stores experienced a decrease in sales because hypermarkets slowed down.The growth of the online sales mai date2018-12-31

Minister Sung awards government prizes to robot industry contributors

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo awarded government prizes to individuals who contributed to the development of the robot industry at Robot Professionals’ Night 2018 in Seoul on December 19.The event showcased ten types of promising robot products, including caring robots and rehabilitation robots. The Korean government plans to roll out about 1,000 of these service robots to three basic local governments by 2019.During the congratulatory speech, Minister Sung emphasized that date2018-12-19

Korea’s annual ICT exports surpass $200 billion for first time

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on December 18 that Korea’s exports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods from January to November this year reached a record USD 204.5 billion, surpassing the $200 billion mark for the first time.However, the exports of ICT goods in November saw a slight decrease of 1.7 percent, posting the first decline in 25 months. This is primarily due to a slowdown in the expansion of semiconductors and sluggish sales of mobile p date2018-12-18

Auto exports, production post growth in November

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on December 13 that Korea's automobile exports and production in November posted growth compared to the same period last year.Exports of automobiles grew 1.6 percent to 238,357 units from a year earlier due to higher shipments of newly launched models to North America and Europe. In terms of value, automobile shipments to North America went up 0.2 percent to $1.7 billion, and those to the EU and non-EU European countries increased 3.3 percent date2018-12-13

Korea to roll out 4,000 hydrogen vehicles next year

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a new fuel cell stack plant at the Hyundai Mobis factory in Chungju on December 11. Fuel cell stacks are key components that make up more than half of the cost to build a hydrogen vehicle. Hyundai Mobis’ current fuel cell stack plant can produce about 3,000 stacks per year. With the new plant, the annual production volume is expected to increase date2018-12-11

Minister Sung visits groundbreaking ceremony for fuel cell stack plant

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo (third from the left) visited the groundbreaking ceremony for a fuel cell stack plant in Chungju on December 11.Fuel cell stacks are key components that make up more than half of the cost to build a hydrogen vehicle. Hyundai Mobis’ current fuel cell stack plant can produce about 3,000 stacks per year, and with the new plant, the annual production volume is expected to increase to 40,000 units by 2022.During his congratulatory speech at the cer date2018-12-11