Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Vice Minister Choe attends 14th APEC Energy Ministerial

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe attended the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministerial Meeting (EMM14) through August 15–16 in Lima, Peru, and engaged in discussions on expanding the use of clean energy and intraregional economic cooperation under the theme of “Sustainable Growth for Resilient Development.” He also took part in discussions on the topic of the importance of energy approaches that accelerate sustainable growth, held with the participation of 21 APEC member economies. date2024-08-16

Korea’s automobile exports log $5.4 bln in July

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that Korea’s automobile exports for the month of July 2024 reached USD 5.4 billion (down 9.1 percent year-on-year), coming in at an all-time second highest for the month of July. The accumulated value of automobile exports through January–July this year amounts to a historic $42.4 billion (up 2.0 percent year-on-year). July exports of automobile parts recorded $2.2 billion (up 9.5 percent), the first time in seven years and eight months to surpass the $2.2 billion mark. Meanwhile, the number of automobiles produced in Korea during July added up to 290,910 units (down 17.6 percent year-on-year). The decline is attributed to major domestic automakers’ wage and collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations, coinciding with summer breaks concentrated in the last week of July. Production is anticipated to revive in August along with the higher number of working days for the industry. Domestic sales contracted 2.7 percent to 132,396 units. Despite Korean automobiles falling 6.0 percent in domestic sales, the top 10 models sold in July were all homegrown cars. Eco-friendly car sales jumped 19.1 percent to 50,325 units, among which hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) showed a steep climb of 22.4 percent and led the green car market. With the Special Act on Future Automotive Parts Industry Transition and Ecosystem Development having entered into force on July 10 in Korea, MOTIE is mulling various measures to support domestic car parts companies’ transition to future mobility, while also actively seeking to resolve issues faced by exporting businesses.   date2024-08-16

Korea’s ICT exports rise 32.8% in July

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that Korea’s export and import of information and communication technology (ICT) goods reached USD 19.4 billion and $12.1 billion, respectively, for the month of July 2024. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $7.3 billion. Backed by robust exports of main items like semiconductors, displays, mobile phones, and computers/peripherals, ICT exports for July advanced 32.8 percent year-on-year, their growth rate entering the 30 percent thresholds for four months straight since April. Semiconductors (up 49.0 percent), displays (up 2.0 percent), mobile phones (up 69.4 percent), and computers/peripherals (up 51.1 percent) were among the major items driving growth. By region, exports were seen climbing across most destinations, including China (including Hong Kong) (up 31.1 percent), Vietnam (up 23.7 percent), the U.S. (up 40.1 percent), and the EU (up 23.5 percent). Meanwhile, Korea’s July import of ICT goods increased 6.0 percent year-on-year as demand for semiconductors, displays, and other key components increased.   date2024-08-16

Vice Minister Choe attends 14th APEC Energy Ministerial

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe, as the representative of the Korean government, attended the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministerial Meeting (EMM14) through August 15–16 in Lima, Peru, and engaged in discussions on expanding the use of clean energy and intraregional economic cooperation under the theme of “Sustainable Growth for Resilient Development.” At EMM14, participants agreed that clean energy transition plays a central role in facilitating resilient and inclusive development and decided to seek cooperation measures that take each economy’s conditions and situation into account. In the dedicated session, 21 APEC member economies actively discussed their respective policy efforts with regard to the following three topics: accelerating energy transition across the entire APEC region, energy approaches for expediting sustainable development, and policies for intraregional clean hydrogen development. During the session on seeking ways to catalyze the energy transition, Vice Minister Choe introduced Korea’s policy endeavors for expanding clean energy use and highlighted the need for each country to leverage a realistically feasible energy mix consisting of both renewables and carbon-free energy sources, such as nuclear and hydrogen power, as an innovative strategy and a means for technology utilization to ensure a sustainable energy transition. The vice minister also presented Korea’s plans for hosting next year's APEC EMM15 and related working groups, proposing that the EMM15 session topic address measures for utilizing carbon-free energy technologies to expand clean electrical power across the APEC region. The suggestion was met with support from a number of countries, including Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the U.S. On the margins of the APEC event, Vice Minister Choi held bilateral talks with counterparts from Canada, the U.S., and other countries and shared Korea’s progress on preparations for hosting the APEC EMM15 in 2025 and exchanged views on the need to harness carbon-free energy sources and joint policy efforts.   date2024-08-16

Minister Ahn holds videoconference with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held a videoconference with the UK’s new Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on August 14 and discussed measures to make progress on negotiations for upgrading the Korea-UK FTA. date2024-08-16

19th International Standards Olympiad Closing Ceremony

Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) President Jin Jong-wook awarded the Singaporean team KOPI the Prime Minister’s Award for winning the Platinum Prize in the 19th International Standards Olympiad on August 14 in Asan and gave a closing address to 120 students from 11 countries. date2024-08-16

Minister Ahn discusses stronger economic and trade cooperation with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held a videoconference with the UK’s new Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on August 14 to congratulate his appointment and expressed hopes for close ministerial-level communication to build stronger Korea-UK economic cooperative ties going forward. Minister Ahn viewed that Korea and the UK have established solid economic cooperative relations as partners that share core values of free democracy and market economy, with the two countries’ globally competitive businesses in major advanced areas leading the economic ties based on vigorous investments and technology collaboration. He stated that their bilateral cooperation as trustworthy partners and friendly nations is all the more important in light of economic security issues and persisting geopolitical uncertainties, such as the Russia-Ukraine war. Moreover, the minister conveyed Korea’s stance of looking forward to a stronger comprehensive bilateral partnership based on the full implementation of the joint ambitions declared in the Downing Street Accord, which was adopted on the occasion of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit last November. They also discussed measures to bolster the two countries’ economic and trade relations, including ways to make progress on negotiations for upgrading the Korea-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA). date2024-08-14

19th International Standards Olympiad successfully closes with competition and harmony among young standards talent

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced the successful closing of the 19th International Standards Olympiad on August 14 in Asan, Cheonan, with the participation of an all-time high total of 200 students and teachers from 11 countries around the world in the global three-day event. For the main competition, 40 teams consisting of middle and high school students engaged in the competition through presentations and international standard document drafting on advanced technology products used in daily life, such as measures to evaluate the performance of smart devices’ voice recognition (middle school teams) and ethical guidelines on the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) technology (high school teams). Based on the judges’ results, Team KOPI from Singapore won the highest score and took the Platinum Prize, receiving the Prime Minister’s Award for its proposed international standard document on ethical AI utilization. Four teams (Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Uzbekistan) won the gold prize and were awarded the Trade, Industry and Energy Minister’s Award. date2024-08-14

K-Display 2024 opening ceremony

Deputy Minister for Industry Policy Lee Seung-ryeol attended K-Display 2024 on August 14 at COEX in Seoul, held with the participation of 157 companies, and awarded LG Display with Governmental commendations and toured the exhibition booths featuring OLED and other latest technologies. date2024-08-14

Next-generation display standardization roadmap sets out to secure global technology super gap

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the international forum on display standardization “K-Display 2024” on August 14 at COEX in Seoul with the participation of industry, academia, and R&D experts from around the world, and announced the Next-Generation Display Standardization Roadmap (“Roadmap”). The designing of the Roadmap began last year as part of the Government’s strategy announced this May for the standardization of Korea’s advanced industries, by gathering opinions via display standardization forums, expert committees, and related conferences involving industry insiders, academia, and researchers. As major standardization candidate technologies, the Roadmap has selected organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), implantable light-emitting diodes (iLEDs), and other materials and parts deemed essential for securing new market leadership in the global display industry. It further proposes to set eight of domestic companies’ technologies as international standards by 2027, while also presenting strategies for the development of 11 national standard technologies on providing corporate assistance, such as in test evaluations.  Homegrown candidate technologies for international standards were uncovered based on corporate demand. In the OLED category, the Roadmap includes three technologies, including those on rollable display form factor change and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) display performance evaluation. Selected for the iLEDs category are also three technologies, including those on dynamic and optical properties measurement. The materials and parts category includes two technologies, including one on the mechanical properties measurement of ultra-thin glass. At K-Display 2024, experts from Korea, Germany, and the U.S. introduced measurement solutions for automotive displays and extended reality (XR) display performance standards, followed by presentations and discussions on standardization trends in carbon neutrality. date2024-08-14