Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Government holds 1st National High-Tech Strategic Industries Committee Meeting

South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo presided the 1st National High-Tech Strategic Industries Committee (hereinafter “Committee”) Meeting on November 4 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Seoul. The Committee will serve as the highest decision-making body in the establishment, execution and inspection of policies for investment, personnel training, regulatory reform and finance in supporting the nation’s efforts to achieve a super gap across high-tech strategic industries. There are 20 members from both the public (12 persons) and private sector (8 persons), composed of relevant ministries’ officials, and experts from economic organizations, industries, academia and the R&D sector. Another important function of the Committee is to oversee regulatory exceptions, and take charge of the deliberation and resolution process regarding difficulties that domestic firms face to prevent them from falling behind in the high-tech race. The abovementioned Committee meeting covered the following three agenda items. One, the Government will designate three major industries (semiconductors, secondary batteries, displays) and related 15 high-tech strategic, world-leading technologies that necessitate the protection of the super gap, personnel and technologies. Two, the Government will designate special industrial complexes and roll out packages catering to their needs in terms of securing the location, building power and water infrastructure, permits, technology, personnel and financing. The complexes will be designated by the first half of 2023. Three, the Government confirmed its plans to designate schools for master's and doctorate programs to train up a ready-to-work and specialized workforce. For the semiconductor industry, the plan is to train up 30,000 workers over the next decade, 5,000 of which will be educated through specially designated master's and doctorate courses. Three semiconductor-specialized schools will be designated by early next year to start their programs in the second semester of 2023. For secondary batteries and displays, one or two schools will be designated in 2024 after a demand survey, followed by a prefeasibility study for further designation. The Government stated that the 2nd Committee meeting is slated for early next year, as high-tech strategic industries are growing in importance and prone to rapid changes. date2022-11-07

Korea and Saudi Arabia hold talks on energy supply chain cooperation

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang held a videoconference with Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on November 2 at the latter’s request and discussed bilateral cooperation in energy sectors. The two countries shared the emphasis on the need for communication and cooperation between them, as crude oil supplier and consumer, to seek out oil market stabilization measures. Noting that Saudi Arabia is Korea’s major source of crude oil and the two date2022-11-04

Korea and India hold 9th round of CEPA upgrading negotiations

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that the 9th round of Korea-India negotiations for an upgraded Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are to be held on November 3-4 in Seoul. The Korean delegation is headed by Director General for FTA Policy Yang Gi-uk, while India’s is headed by Joint Secretary at Department of Commerce Anant Swarup. Relevant ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and date2022-11-03

MOTIE hosts Invest Korea Week 2022

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 2 that it was hosting Invest Korea Week (IKW) 2022 with co-organizers Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Korea International Broadcasting Foundation (KIBF) at Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas over a period of three days from November 2 to November 4. IKW aims to share Korea’s attractive investment environment and all-time high FDI achievements in 2022, which are all the more meaningful amid the cu date2022-11-03

MOTIE holds 30th Trade Promotion Committee & 4th IRA Countermeasures TF

Dukgeun Ahn, Minister for Trade, presided the 30th Trade Promotion Committee on November 2 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and spoke in his opening message on Korea’s progress in climate change response and industrial competitiveness with respect to legal and systemic enforcement. He emphasized that it is crucial for the Government and companies to take utmost care in responding to other countries’ policies so they do not end up facing limitations or discriminat date2022-11-02

Korea's exports fall 5.7% in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 1 that Korean exports in October decreased 5.7 percent year-on-year to USD 52.5 billion. Imports rose 9.9 percent to $59.2 billion and the trade balance stood at a deficit of $6.7 billion. The fall in exports was affected by unfavorable external conditions such as the global economic downturn, protracted Russia-Ukraine war and major countries’ austerity measures. China’s reduced imports and semiconductor price falls, c date2022-11-01

Korea signs nuclear reactor MOU & LOI with Poland

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on October 31 that it signed an MOU with the Polish Ministry of State Assets, and a letter of intent (LOI) was also signed between Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Poland's ZE PAK (private energy company) and PGE (state-owned public power company). ZE PAK, PGE and KHNP will appraise the feasibility of an APR-1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MW electricity) project in Patnow, central Poland. The MOU signed by the two countr date2022-11-01

Korea's retail industry gains 7.5% in September

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on October 31 that Korea’s retail sales in September recorded a year-on-year growth of 7.5 percent. Both physical and online retailers gained in sales, up 6.0 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively. The Ministry releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 25 major retailers. Thirteen of them are physical retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four &l date2022-10-31