Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

First petroleum shipment received at Korea Energy Terminal

Deputy Minister for Energy Policy Lee Ho-hyeon visited the Korea Energy Terminal (KET) located in Ulsan on April 18 for reception of the first shipment of petroleum products and toured the construction site, stating that the Ulsan KET is an exemplary model of successful public-private cooperation and asked that safety rules be strictly upheld in finishing the remaining construction of the gas storage facility. date2024-04-18

Deputy Trade Minister visits Washington D.C. to discuss trade issues and bilateral cooperation

Deputy Minister for Trade Yang Byeong-nae visited Washington D.C. from April 15-17 and met with key figures in the Biden administration and Congress members to discuss major trade issues and forward-looking measures for advancing bilateral cooperation. On April 16, he attended the Korea Inter-parliamentary Exchange Center (KIPEC) opening ceremony at the Korea international Trade Association (KITA) Washington Center.   Deputy Trade Minister Yang held talks with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative regarding the Korea-U.S.-Japan industry ministers’ meeting slated for the first half of this year, as well as the major agenda items of the Korea-U.S. Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue (SCCD). He also shared Korean companies’ export issues, including those related to trade remedies, and discussed the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives.   He also attended the KIPEC opening ceremony with a number of Korean lawmakers, meeting with key U.S. Congress members and discussed Korean firms’ investment in the U.S., flexibility in applying the IRA’s critical minerals requirement, additional CHIPS Act subsidies, and visa issues. date2024-04-18

Minister Ahn attends naming ceremony for LNG carrier ORION SPIRIT

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn attended the naming ceremony for the LNG carrier ORION SPIRIT on April 18 at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje Shipyard. Marking the 30th anniversary of Korea's first LNG carrier built in 1994, the ORION SPIRIT is the 500th vessel to be exported and will be handed over to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. date2024-04-18

First petroleum shipment received at Korea Energy Terminal

Deputy Minister for Energy Policy Lee Ho-hyeon visited the Korea Energy Terminal (KET) located in Ulsan on April 18 for reception of the first shipment of petroleum products and toured the construction site. Upon the successful reception, the terminal officially launched into commercial operation.   The KET is an oil and gas terminal established through joint investment by Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and SK Gas as part of the Government’s Northeast Asia Energy Hub project. Construction commenced in July 2020, with its oil storage facility completing in December 2023 and the gas storage facility due completion this year.   In 2017, Korea eased restrictions for oil traders and in 2024, the Government worked with Korea Customs Service and the National Tax Service in making amendments to allow the immediate refund of duties, value-added tax, and import levies for domestic oil refiners upon shipping out their petroleum products from bonded areas, enabling international trading companies to blend Korean refiners’ products.   These efforts over the years have sparked the interest of various global traders and investors towards the Ulsan energy hub. Deputy Minister Lee remarked that the Ulsan KET is an exemplary model of successful public-private cooperation and asked that safety rules be strictly upheld in finishing the remaining construction of the gas storage facility. date2024-04-18

ORION SPIRIT to set sail as Korea's 500th LNG carrier exported since 1994

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn attended the naming ceremony for the LNG carrier ORION SPIRIT on April 18 at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje Shipyard. Marking the 30th anniversary of Korea's first LNG carrier built in 1994, the ORION SPIRIT is the 500th LNG tanker to be exported and will be handed over to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.   LNG carriers must be able to safely transport liquid gas at temperatures below minus 163 degrees Celsius and require highly advanced technology, costing over KRW 300 billion per vessel. Only nine countries around the world have successfully built the cutting-edge fleet. There are 680 LNG carriers presently in the water, three-fourths of which were built by Korean shipyards, and construction of another 256 vessels are underway.   Korean shipyards raked in USD 13.6 billion worth of global ship orders in the first quarter of 2024, winning 100 percent of total LNG and ammonia carrier orders. The high-value orders won in 2021 have entered the export stage this year as well. date2024-04-18

Trade Minister holds "New Trade Roundtable"

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong chaired the first “New Trade Roundtable” at the Government Complex Sejong to assess the supply chain trade strategy on April 17, the day the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Supply Chain Agreement entered into force in Korea.   Trade Minister Cheong addressed the need for a supply chain trade policy that supports industrial supply chain policies and said that the ministry plans to establish measures on utilizing the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement in this respect. He also asked companies for specific suggestions on IPEF utilization measures.   Representatives from related associations, academia, and research institutions, including the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA), attended the meeting to participate in discussions for supply chain stability and diversification utilizing the IPEF Agreement. date2024-04-17

Korea seeking to bolster supply chain for critical items utilizing IPEF Agreement

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong is holding the first “New Trade Roundtable” at the Government Complex Sejong to assess the supply chain trade strategy on April 17, the day the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Supply Chain Agreement entered into force in Korea. Representatives from related associations, academia, and research institutions are attending the meeting to participate in discussions for supply chain stability and diversification utilizing the IPEF Agreement.   Attendees examine the prospects of pushing joint projects with IPEF partner countries on import channel diversification, R&D, and logistics improvement concerning urea, graphite, rare-earth magnets, and other items included under the eight supply chain anchor projects MOTIE announced in March. Further negotiations will be held should it become necessary that the above items are handled in joint projects in implementing the IPEF Agreement. date2024-04-17

Top experts gather for first AI semiconductor working group meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), on April 16, jointly convened the first meeting of the AI semiconductor Working Group under the AI Strategy High-Level Committee, launched April 4, to gather opinions of top experts in the field of AI and semiconductors regarding the AI Semiconductor Initiative, which was first introduced during the President-chaired discussions on pending chip issues held April 9.   The AI Strategy High-Level Committee was created under the ministries’ shared understanding that a whole-of-the-government governance is needed to lead Korea’s AI innovation from an interconnected and integrative perspective. Co-chaired by the MSIT minister and a private-sector expert (Taejae University President Yeom Jae-ho), the Committee is composed of 23 top AI private sector experts and seven deputy ministerial-level officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), Ministry of Education (MOE), Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), Korea Communications Commission (KCC), and MOTIE. The Committee will be running six working groups.   Attending the meeting were Professor Yoo Hoi-jun at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Head of the AI Semiconductor Working Group, along with experts from related companies like Samsung, SK Hynix, KT, NHN Cloud, LG AI Lab, Sapeon, FuriosaAI, as well as academia and R&D experts in AI and AI chips. date2024-04-17

MOTIE and Boeing discuss aerospace and defense cooperation

Industry Policy Deputy Minister Lee Seung-ryeol met with Boeing’s Research & Technology (BR&T) Vice President and General Manager Patty Chang-Chien on April 16 in Seoul to discuss measures for advancing Korea-Boeing cooperation in aerospace and defense. date2024-04-16

Korean delegation attends 14th Session of IRENA Assembly

Renewable Energy Director General Jeong Kyung-rok is attending the 14th Session of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly from April 16-18 (local time) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the Chief Delegate representing the Korean government.   Established in 2011 with aim to promote global cooperation and widespread use and adoption of renewable energy, IRENA is an international organization of which Korea is currently serving as a member of the Council.   The Korean delegation is attending the high-level meeting sessions and articulating Korea’s achievement of more than doubling the proportion of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix over the last five years despite its difficult renewable energy supply conditions, and will share various policy experiences accumulated throughout the process.   Meanwhile, Director General Jeong will meet with Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director General, on April 16 to discuss measures for stronger cooperation, asking IRENA’s role of bridging developed and developing member countries and taking into consideration the supply situation of each renewable energy source and different conditions per region and country in implementing the pledge declared at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP28) on tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030.   On the margins of the general assembly, the Korean delegation will meet with Othman Al Ali, CEO of UAE’s Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), the client company of the Al Ajban Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Project recently awarded to Korea Western Power Co., for bilateral talks. The delegation will also meet with Korean energy firms operating in the UAE market before departing for Korea. date2024-04-16