Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Trade Minister meets with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry

Trade Minister Inkyo Cheong held bilateral talks with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on September 21 in Lao PDR and discussed bilateral trade and investment measures. date2024-09-24

Trade Minister meets Swiss Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs

Trade Minister Inkyo Cheong held bilateral talks with Swiss Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Helene Budliger Artieda on September 20 in Lao PDR and discussed bilateral economic cooperation issues. date2024-09-24

Trade Minister meets UK Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security

Trade Minister Inkyo Cheong held bilateral talks with UK Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security Douglas Alexander on September 19 in Lao PDR and discussed bilateral economic cooperation issues. date2024-09-24

3rd Korean-German Industry Working Group meeting

Industry Policy Deputy Minister Lee Seung-ryeol attended the 3rd Korean-German Industry Working Group meeting on September 24 in Seoul with Bernhard Kluttig, Director for Industrial Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and discussed measures for industrial supply chain data platform cooperation, supply chain emergency response, and automotive industry issues. date2024-09-24

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ministers’ virtual meeting

Korea’s Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ministers’ virtual meeting on September 24 and examined IPEF Agreements’ outcomes with the 14 IPEF partner countries and discussed future plans. date2024-09-24

3rd RCEP Ministers Meeting

Trade Minister Cheong attended the third Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministers Meeting and examined several issues including measures for stronger RCEP implementation for regional economic integration, laying down RCEP accession procedures, and setting up an RCEP support organization. date2024-09-24

27th ASEAN Plus Three (Korea, China, Japan) Summit

Trade Minister Inkyo Cheong attended the 27th ASEAN Plus Three (Korea, China, Japan) Summit, where he discussed East Timor’s accession to ASEAN and strengthening the multilateral trade-based cooperation amid global economic fragmentation. date2024-09-24

12th East Asia Summit (EAS) Economic Ministers Meeting

Trade Minister Cheong attended the 12th East Asia Summit (EAS) Economic Ministers Meeting on September 21 in Vientiane, Lao PDR, and shared views on global issues such as supply chains, digital transition, and climate change with the participation of 17 countries’ economic ministers. date2024-09-24

Trade Minister attends 21st Korea-ASEAN Economic Ministers Consultation

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the 21st Korea-ASEAN Economic Ministers Consultation held on September 22 in Vientiane, Lao PDR, and took stock of various Korea-ASEAN joint projects including the implementation and upgrade of the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA), extending the Korea-ASEAN Startup Policy Dialogue, support for electrical safety infrastructure establishment, and enhancing standards cooperation. date2024-09-24

Global standards-setting on track to claim super gap in advanced industries

On Tuesday, September 24, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the Standards Leadership Forum, bringing together leaders from academia, industry, and research to review key achievements under the National Standardization Strategy for Advanced Industries jointly announced by the public and private sectors during a previous forum in May. The key achievements include the timely development of international and national standards in 12 advanced industries including semiconductors and AI, strengthening international cooperation, expanding industrial standardization activities, and nurturing a standardization infrastructure for training standardization professionals. Through a concentrated national effort based on the standardization strategy for advanced industries, Korea developed and proposed 50 international standards from January–August in 12 advanced industries including artificial intelligence and displays—more than double the number compared to previous years. * Number of international standard proposals in 12 advanced industries by year: 23 (2022) → 23 (2023) → 50 (Jan–Aug. 2024) Notably, two international standards were proposed for performance evaluation of displays used in rollable and foldable phones (including multi-folding models) under development by Korean and overseas companies, laying the groundwork for proper assessment of Korea's leading technologies. Additionally, three international standards were proposed to lead in AI technologies, including guidelines for lightweight AI systems applicable to on-device AI, such as smartphones. The increase in these international standard proposal activities has also resulted in a growing number of Korean executives leading international standard development at organizations like the Joint Technical Committee on Quantum Technologies (JTC3). As of August 2024, the number of Korean executives in these roles reached 274, up from 263 of the previous year.   date2024-09-24