Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Minister Ahn meets Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met former U.S. senator and incumbent Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas Chris Dodd on June 25 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the first Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industrial ministerial and discussed Korea-U.S. trade, investment, supply chain and economic cooperation. date2024-06-26

Minister Ahn meets Deputy Secretary of U.S. Department of Energy

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met with Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy David M. Turk on June 25 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the first Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industrial ministerial and discussed measures for stronger Korea-U.S. energy cooperation. date2024-06-26

Minister Ahn meets UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi on June 25 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the first Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industrial ministerial and discussed Korea-UAE trade and investment, bilateral CEPA prospects, and ratification timeline.   date2024-06-26

International Light Convergence Expo 2024 launches at KINTEX, Ilsan

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is holding the opening ceremony of the International Light Convergence Expo 2024 (June 26–28) at KINTEX in Ilsan on June 26.   Now in its 22nd year as Korea’s largest light convergence industry exhibition, International Light Convergence Expo 2024 is launched with the participation of 150 relevant companies and institutions.   The Expo will be running buyer consultation sessions to support new market entry, showcase Korea’s latest light convergence technologies, and facilitate discussions on business strategies through an industrial forum.   Based on LED and laser technology, light convergence creates technological and market value through convergence with other industries and serves as a key foundational technology for ushering in future and advanced industries’ new sectors.   The opening ceremony is attended by 60 persons, including lawmaker Kim Sung-won, MOTIE officials, and related companies and institutions’ representatives. Contributors to the light convergence sector are awarded government commendations for developing new technologies and achieving other advancements.   The Presidential Commendation Award goes to Optoelec for developing ultrasmall optical devices for semiconductor manufacturing and the Prime Minister’s Commendation to SCL for developing high-efficiency smart lighting technology. The MOTIE Minister’s Commendation is awarded to four researchers at KIEL Institute for their contribution to the light convergence industry’s technological development. date2024-06-26

Minister Ahn meets with Brookings Institution President

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met with Brookings Institution President Cecilia Elena Rouse on June 24 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the first Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industrial ministerial and discussed Korea’s strategic measures regarding major U.S. technologies and industries. date2024-06-26

Minister Ahn discusses Korea-U.S. cooperation with former U.S. representative

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met with former U.S. representative Edwin Perlmutter on June 24 in Washington D.C. on the margins of the first Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industrial ministerial and discussed measures for Korea-U.S. trade, investment, and supply chain cooperation. date2024-06-26

Korea’s retail industry grows 8.8% in May

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on June 25 that Korea’s retail industry grew 8.8 percent year-on-year in May 2024, with offline and online sales advancing 0.9 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.   MOTIE releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 25 major retailers. Thirteen of them are brick-and-mortar retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four super supermarket (SSMs) operators. The remaining 12 are online retailers.   Offline sales showed an uptick despite the sales decline across hypermarkets and department stores, as sales climbed at convenience stores and SSMs.   By offline retail channel, hypermarket sales dropped 3.1 percent as sales of most items decreased except for food products (up 2.9 percent), with home appliances/culture (down 19.1 percent), sports (down 14.2 percent), and miscellaneous goods (down 12.9 percent) shrinking.   Department store sales slid 0.1 percent despite the growth of food products (up 3.9 percent) and household goods (up 3.8 percent), as men’s clothing (down 9.3 percent), women’s suits (down 7.2 percent), and kids/sports (down 3.6 percent) dropped.   Convenience stores (up 4.1 percent) saw sales growth across all items, including miscellaneous goods (up 4.4 percent) and daily necessities (up 4.0 percent). Cost-effective food items like beverages/processed food products (up 5.1 percent), and instant food products (up 2.0 percent) also enjoyed robust demand.   SSM operators gained 4.8 percent despite the fall in non-food products like daily necessities (down 5.7 percent) and miscellaneous goods (down 0.4 percent), as increasing demand for home cooking boosted sales of agricultural, fishery, and livestock items (up 8.1 percent) and processed food products (up 5.3 percent).   Online sales soared 16.5 percent as various discount promotion events were launched amid the global e-commerce competition, driving sales of food products (up 26.1 percent), service/other (up 55.9 percent), and a majority of other items, with the exception of fashion/clothing (down 13.8 percent) and sports (down 4.3 percent). Demand for travel, performance, delivery services, and frozen food products expanded, leading to steep sales growth of cost-effective and bulk food items. date2024-06-25

Korea's corporate R&D investment grows 8.7% in 2023

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) announced on June 24 the top 1,000 Korean R&D investor companies of 2023.   The sales of 1,000 top R&D investor companies declined 2.8 percent year-on-year in 2023, but their R&D investment increased 8.7 percent to KRW 72.5 trillion, up ₩5.8 trillion compared to that of 2022. Accordingly, the ratio of R&D investment to sales advanced from 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent.   The top 10 and top 50 investor companies’ R&D investment add up to ₩45.5 trillion and ₩56.6 trillion, respectively, each taking up 62.7 percent and 78.1 percent of the total 1,000 companies’ R&D investment. Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK Hynix, and LG Electronics are among the nine companies that invested over ₩1 trillion, with Samsung Electronics’ R&D investment (₩23.9 trillion) taking up 32.9 percent of the total R&D investment of the top 1,000 investor firms.   The top 1,000 list consists of 171 large corporations, 491 middle-market companies, and 338 SMEs, with the number of middle-market companies rising by 84 in comparison with that of 2014. The top 100 list includes 33 middle-market companies, indicating their increasingly central role in the innovation ecosystem.   The top 1,000 companies expanded their average annual R&D investment by at least 6.6 percent over the last 10 years and the number of Korean firms among the top 2,500 global R&D investor companies is 47 in total as of 2022, ranking ninth by country.   Director General for Industrial Technology Convergence Policy Lee Min-woo stated that growing corporate R&D investment is leading industrial technology innovation, but that Korea’s R&D investment levels are quite low compared to other global companies. He added that a government jumpstart investment is necessary in next-generation technology and innovative areas in view of private investment challenges. date2024-06-24

Connecting efforts for GHG mitigation, Global Net Zero Connection 2024 launches in Seoul

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is hosting Global Net Zero Connection 2024 from June 24–25 in Seoul for discussing measures on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with Cambodia, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Kenya, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan.   Launched to accelerate GHG mitigation efforts worldwide, Global Net Zero Connection 2024 will be running a policy forum, one-on-one business meetings, and intergovernmental bilateral talks with the participation of 60 domestic and overseas companies and the above seven countries’ government institutions.   In his opening address, Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong emphasized the need for strengthening cooperation and uncovering joint projects in achieving the global goal of GHG mitigation and vowed support for partner countries’ efforts to establish relevant laws and nurture related capacity.   On the margins of the event, MOTIE will enter memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on GHG reduction cooperation with the Cambodian Ministry of Environment and Bangladeshi Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, following its MOUs with Vietnam and Indonesia sealed in June of 2023 and 2024, respectively. The MOUs focus on uncovering joint GHG reduction projects and developing procedures and standards for transferring mitigation outcomes.   At present, MOTIE is running four demonstration projects on international GHG mitigation and plans to support additional demonstration projects and feasibility study projects. date2024-06-24

Minister Ahn visits Washington D.C. for 1st Korea-U.S.-Japan industry ministers' meeting

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn is visiting the U.S. through June 24–28 on the occasion of attending the first Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral industry ministers’ meeting on June 26 in Washington D.C.   In accordance with the agreement made during the Trilateral Leaders' Summit held at Camp David in August 2023 on launching and regularizing the trilateral industry ministerial, the three countries will discuss measures to strengthen economic security and industrial cooperation during the inaugural meeting. They also plan to launch a business conference led by their major economic groups to extend the scope of trilateral cooperation to private sectors.   On the margins of this visit to Washington D.C., Minister Ahn will be meeting with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and other key figures in industrial and energy areas for wider bilateral cooperation. Following the first meeting held last year, Korea and the U.S. will hold the second Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue (SCCD) on June 27 to seek concrete outcomes in semiconductors, bio, and such advanced industries. In addition, the two sides will be holding the Korea-U.S. SCCD Semiconductor Forum (June 27), the Korea-U.S. Advanced Industry and Technology Cooperation Forum (June 27), and the Clean Energy Business Forum (June 25) to facilitate business collaboration and networking between the two countries.   Minister Ahn stated that this visit is significant in terms of laying down the private-public institutional groundwork to deepen Korea-U.S. cooperation and to expand the cooperation among Korea, the U.S., and Japan, adding that he looks forward to seeing wide-ranging and active discussions for stronger bilateral and trilateral cooperation in advanced industries and clean energy. date2024-06-24