Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea's retail industry grows 4.0% in April

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on May 30 that Korea’s retail sales in April achieved an overall growth of 4.0 percent, year-on-year. Offline and online sales both expanded, by 4.8 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. The Ministry 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 &ldqu date2023-05-31

Press Statement on the Substantial Conclusion of IPEF Supply Chain Agreement Negotiations

  Press Statement on the Substantial Conclusion of IPEF Supply Chain Agreement Negotiations May 27, 2023   Today, the 14 partners of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) -Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Viet Nam - announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations of a first-of-its-kind international IPEF Supply Chain Agreemen date2023-05-31

Trade Minister attends APEC trade ministerial meeting

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministerial meeting on May 25-26 in Detroit, U.S as head of the Korean government delegation. Held annually to foster discussions on Asia-Pacific trade and investment issues, this year’s meeting was chaired by the U.S. Representative Katherine Tai and dealt with issues of strengthening the multilateral trading system and the role of trade for sustainable and inclusive growth. In Session One on May date2023-05-31

2nd Vice Minister attends World Climate Industry Expo Business Summit

Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s 2nd Vice Minister Kang Kyung-sung attended the Business Summit in Busan on May 25, held as one of the first program sections of the World Climate Industry Expo 2023. The Business Summit consisted of a session on low carbon energy on May 25 and another on environment, social, governance (ESG) on May 26, to discuss the growth strategy of global companies’ green businesses and their responsibilities and duties for a sustainable future. The Low Car date2023-05-30

Minister Lee reviews future tasks of battery industry

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang visited the LG Energy Solution plant in Ochang on May 25 to review future tasks of the secondary battery industry. According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET), battery and materials are forecast to enter Korea’s top-five tier of export items within five years. Cathode materials’ export value grew 2.6-fold last year, and already doubled in 2023 year-on-year. Battery exports reached record-breaking l date2023-05-30

MOTIE holds Automobile Parts Industry Strategy Roundtable

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang chaired the Automobile Parts Industry Strategy Roundtable on May 23 at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul and announced support measures for future car transition and exports, as follow-up to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s recent call for measures to strengthen Korea’s automobile parts industry competitiveness to enable timely response to the future car transition and the paradigm shift to electrification, intellectualization and autonomous dri date2023-05-26

Korea and Chile restart negotiations for upgrading FTA

Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s FTA Policy Planning Director Ahn Chang-yong headed the Korean delegation for the seventh round of official negotiations to upgrade a free trade agreement (FTA) with Chile on May 22-24 in Santiago. The seventh round of negotiations were launched subsequent to follow-up consultations between the two countries on the occasion of Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s visit to Chile last October. Prior to negotiations, delegation head Ahn stated that date2023-05-26

Korea and Germany discuss measures to bolster supply chain cooperation

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn met with Jörg Kukies, Germany’s State Secretary for Economic, Finance and European Affairs at the Federal Chancellery, on May 22 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul to discuss measures to bolster Korea-Germany supply chain cooperation. Germany is Korea’s largest European trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching historic highs in 2022 (USD 33.7 billion). The two countries’ economic and industrial supply chain cooperation is expected to deepen on t date2023-05-25