Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea's ICT exports reach $14.5 billion in May

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on June 14 that Korea's exports and imports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods for May recorded USD 14.5 billion (down 28.5 percent year-on-year) and $11.2 billion (down 11.2 percent), respectively. Trade balance stood at a surplus of $3.3 billion. ICT exports fell as a result of delayed recovery of global demand for ICT, the sluggish semiconductor industry, and the high base effect from last year’s all-time high M date2023-06-15

Korea and Japan launch joint R&D project in fine chemical industry

Trade, Industry and Energy 1st Vice Minister Jang Young-jin attended the Korea-Japan joint technology R&D project launching ceremony on June 14 in Seoul for strengthening both countries’ fine chemical technology competitiveness as bilateral economic and private sector exchanges are gaining momentum on the occasion of the Tokyo summit meeting in March. In the planning stages of this project, the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) conducted a technology demand su date2023-06-14

Korea becomes first country to join DEPA as non-founding member

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn announced on June 9 on the occasion of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) that Korea has officially acceded to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) as a first non-founding member, signifying the expansion of the global digital trade network for securing digital economy competitiveness. DEPA is the world’s first multilateral digital trade agreement (came into effect in January 2021) date2023-06-12

Korea and France hold 19th Industrial Cooperation Committee meeting

Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s Director-General for International Trade Policy Yoon Chang-hyun presided the 19th Korea-France Industrial Cooperation Committee meeting on June 8 to discuss green industries, supply chain, and advanced industries’ R&D in light of France’s green industry bill. During the meeting, the Ministry’s delegation emphasized that France’s new subsidy standards for electric vehicles tied to low-carbon should not contain discriminatory date2023-06-12

Minister Lee leads discussions for national semiconductor industry strategy

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang attended the 17th emergency meeting on people’s livelihood and economy on June 8, held to discuss key issues and future policy tasks concerning the national semiconductor industry strategy. Minister Lee stated that “experts’ opinions and semiconductor industry’s rapidly changing industrial and technological policy environment will be comprehensively taken into consideration in upgrading the recently announced chip policy date2023-06-09

Korea and Azerbaijan discuss measures to expand economic cooperation

Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s Deputy Trade Minister Jeong Dae-jin led the 3rd Korea-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee Meeting on June 7 to review the progress of joint economic projects and seek measures to further expand cooperation across diverse fields such as smart farms, smart cities, healthcare, education, and tourism. Deputy Trade Minister Jeong requested support from the Azerbaijani government by encouraging Korean companies' involvement in large-scale projects in Azerba date2023-06-09

Korea and Israel sign 6 MOUs in bio, robot & smart mobility

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen attended on June 7 the Korea-Israel Business Seminar where a ceremony was held for the signing of six memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on investment in bio, robot and smart mobility. Two of the participating firms are Korea’s Cure Therapeutics and Israel’s Adva Biotechnology, which agreed to establish a plant for mass-production of cell therapies. Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry a date2023-06-08

Trade Minister attends OECD ministerial meeting

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn is attending the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) held in Paris from June 7-8 as the delegation head of the Korean government, where he is participating in discussions on “Securing a Resilient Future: Shared Values and Global Partnerships.” During talks on economic resiliency held on June 7, the trade chief introduced some of the key policies pushed by the Korean government for internationa date2023-06-08