Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea's exports decline 6.0% in June

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on July 1 that Korea’s exports in June declined 6.0 percent year-on-year to USD 54.2 billion and imports fell 11.7 percent to $53.1 billion, recording a trade surplus ($1.1 billion) for the first time in 16 months. The decline in June exports is attributable to the continued slump of the IT industry and falling semiconductor prices. Daily export average, without factoring in the number of operating days, is $2.4 billion, which i date2023-07-03

Minister Lee attends ceremony for KRW 1.2 tln investment declaration by EU firms

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang attended the investment declaration ceremony in Paris on June 21 on the occasion of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to attend the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) General Assembly, where six European firms (Imerys, Umicore, Continental, Nylacast, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Equinor) declared their decision to invest KRW 1.2 trillion (app. USD 940 million) in Korea. This investment is for establishing production fac date2023-06-30

Korea wins bid project for building tritium removal facility in Romania

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on June 27 that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has won a KRW 260 billion bid project for building a tritium removal facility in Romania. The project will involve the building of a safety facility for capturing and storing tritium, which is a radioactive substance created in the process of activating heavy water reactors for the continued operation of Romania’s Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. Largest to date in value for date2023-06-30

Korea's retail industry grows 5.7% in May

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on June 28 that Korea’s retail sales in May achieved an overall growth of 5.7 percent, year-on-year. Offline and online sales both expanded, by 3.7 percent and 7.9 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 &ldquo date2023-06-29

Korea launches semiconductor ecosystem fund to nurture fabless & MPE firms

Trade, Industry and Energy 1st Vice Minister Jang Young-jin attended the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony for the launching of a semiconductor ecosystem fund on June 26. This is part of a policy to expand the scope of the currently memory-oriented domestic semiconductor value chain to encompass system chips and MPE (materials, parts, equipment). Considering the high burn rate of the present semiconductor-exclusive fund, this fund will reach KRW 300 billion, with increased pro date2023-06-28

Korea and Japan fully resolve export control issues

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on June 27 that the Japanese government has decided to reinstate Korea back in the Appended Table 3 of the Export Trade Control Order, or also known as Japan’s “white list” of trading partners, according to the outcome of the Cabinet meeting held earlier the same day. The promulgation will be made on June 30, and the amendment will enter into force starting July 21. This signifies that Korea-Japan export control issu date2023-06-28

Minister Lee discusses investment with Vestas CEO

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang met with world-leading Danish wind turbine maker Vestas’ CEO Henrik Andersen in Seoul on June 26 to discuss Vestas’ Asia-Pacific headquarters relocation to Seoul slated for September, 2023. Henrik Andersen is on a due diligence visit to Korea regarding the relocation of regional headquarters and the establishment of a new wind turbine parts manufacturing plant in Korea. Vestas has supplied more than 160GW of wind turbine power arou date2023-06-27

Korea participates in the world's largest R&D platform, Eureka

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on June 22 that Korea attended Eureka’s general assembly meeting as the first non-European country and as a member of the Board of Directors. The meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium. Eureka is the world’s largest R&D platform and its membership comprises 41 European countries and six non-European countries (including Korea), currently totaling 47 member countries. Every year, approximately 250 new R&D projects wo date2023-06-26