Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea and ASEAN to cooperate for launch of bilateral Trade and Economic Think Tank Dialogue in 2025

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced plans today with regard to launching the Korea-ASEAN Trade and Economic Think Tank Dialogue (“Dialogue”), proposed by Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during the 25th Korea-ASEAN Summit held on October 10 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Dialogue was first proposed as a concrete joint project on the occasion of the bilateral Korea-ASEAN diplomatic relations advancing to a comprehensive strategic partnership in commemoration of this year marking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Korea-ASEAN dialogue relations, as well as a follow-up measure to the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) announced by the Yoon administration at the 23rd Korea-ASEAN Summit in November 2022. Through the joint organization of MOTIE and the ASEAN Secretariat, the Dialogue is to function as a regular consultative channel involving the participation of Korea and 10 ASEAN countries’ major trade and economic research institutions. Korea and other ASEAN chair countries will be launching joint research projects, forums, and seminars on a regular basis, the results of which will be shared via high-level Korea-ASEAN economic platforms like the Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) and the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting. MOTIE plans to convene the inaugural Dialogue meeting in the first half of 2025 in Seoul through close communication with ASEAN so as to establish the Dialogue as a chief economic cooperation platform between Korea and ASEAN.   date2024-10-14

Korea’s ICT exports climb 24% in September

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that the export and import of Korea’s information and communications technology (ICT) goods for September 2024 logged USD 22.4 billion and $12.5 billion, respectively, and the trade balance stood at a surplus of $9.9 billion. ICT exports for the month of September (up 24.0 percent year-on-year) came in second highest following those of March 2022, maintaining an upward climb for the 11th consecutive month.  Semiconductor exports hit unprecedented highs and led overall ICT exports, advancing 36.3 percent year-on-year to $13.6 billion. Memory chips (up 60.7 percent to $8.7 billion) and system chips (up 5.2 percent to $4.4 billion) both increased. Exports of finished mobile phones (up 0.5 percent to $0.3 billion) and parts (up 31.2 percent to $1.4 billion) rose simultaneously, maintaining the double-digit growth since March 2024. Computers and peripherals (up 104.8 percent to $1.6 billion) are enjoying robust demand as solid-state drives (SSDs) (up 168.8 percent to $1.2 billion) surpassed the $1 billion monthly export value for the second consecutive month. By region, ICT exports to China (including Hong Kong) climbed 22.6 percent to $9.2 billion, achieving growth for the 11th consecutive month on the backs of demand for major items like semiconductors and mobile phones. Exports to Vietnam (up 8.7 percent to $3.4 billion) expanded for the 14th consecutive month thanks to growth across key items. Exports to the U.S. (up 39.9 percent to $3.0 billion) grew for the 11th consecutive month as semiconductors (up 88.0 percent to $1.2 billion) and computers and peripherals (up 250.6 percent to $0.7 billion) hiked sharply, boosted by demand for servers and datacenters. EU-bound ICT exports (up 11.3 percent to $1.1 billion) sustained growth for the seventh consecutive month with mobile phones (up 361.2 percent to $0.2 billion) and computers and peripherals (up 116.6 percent to $0.2 billion) displaying strong growth. To Japan (up 2.3 percent to $0.4 billion), exports of semiconductors and computers and peripherals increased.   date2024-10-14

Korea and Germany launch 1st Industrie 4.0 & Dataspace Forum

Industries and Enterprises Deputy Minister Oh Seung-cheol at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea attended the first Korea-Germany Industrie 4.0 & Dataspace Forum (“Forum”) today in Seoul, held with the participation of roughly 100 persons of both countries’ government bodies, academia, industries, and research institutions including Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The Forum was held as a follow-up measure to the Korea-Germany ministerial talks (June 2023) and the third Korean-German Industry Working Group meeting (September 2024) for bilateral industry data sharing and platform cooperation. It also served as an inaugural event for facilitating detailed discussions among the entities of the private sector cooperative system established this April in accordance with the joint statement issued by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) and Germany’s Plattform Industrie 4.0 on creating an industry data ecosystem. The Forum’s launch signals the initial stride of cooperation between Germany’s industry data platform (e.g., Catena-X, Manufacturing-X) and that of Korea’s, which is to be developed in proportion to Korea’s industrial situation. Both countries’ Forum participants exchanged information on industry data platform policies and discussed measures for sharing and diffusing standards for platform synchronization. On the margins of the Forum, Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX) and Germany’s Labs Network Industrie 4.0 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for industrial complex data sharing and data standards development support. Deputy Minister Oh stated that the Korea-Germany industry data platform cooperative system will act as a foundation in accelerating the industrial artificial intelligence (AI) transformation and that the two countries plan to broaden the scope of bilateral cooperation through joint research on industry data standards and mutual recognition.   date2024-10-14

Korea and EU launch 6th negotiating round for bilateral Digital Trade Agreement

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that government delegations of Korea and the EU will be entering the sixth official negotiating round for a bilateral Digital Trade Agreement (DTA) from October 15–17 in Seoul. With the shared vision to establish high-level digital trade norms based on the Korea-EU Digital Trade Principles agreed on the margins of the Korea-EU Trade Committee meeting convened in November 2022, the two sides have held five negotiating rounds since announcing the joint statement to launch DTA negotiations (October 2023). The sixth negotiating round will focus on seeking ways to move the negotiations forward through continued discussions in view of outcomes gained thus far. The Korea-EU DTA is anticipated to invigorate the bilateral trade of digital goods and services through an upgrade of digital trade rules, while also widening doors of opportunity for Korean businesses’ global market entry and collaboration by creating a more stable digital business environment.   date2024-10-14

EPC companies seek measures for Korea’s plant industry development at policy forum

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the second Plant EPC Policy Forum (“Forum”) today in Seoul held to seek forward-looking strategies for Korea’s engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) industry and discuss ways to achieve this year’s USD 33 billion overseas plant bid target. Forum attendees gave presentations on the Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS), financial assistance, and strategies with regard to the changing market ecosystem. Korea Power Exchange (KPX) introduced the clean hydrogen power bidding market launched this year in relation to hydrogen plants as a future growth engine and proposed business opportunities for each stage of the value chain from production to utilization, such as overseas project development, winning ammonia-powered container ship project bids, establishment of cargo handling and storage infrastructure, and domestic construction of hydrogen power plants. This was followed by the Export Credit Agency (ECA)’s presentation, which drew much interest from the EPC industry by providing an overview of the various overseas project funding programs run by relevant institutions like K-SURE and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM).  In his congratulatory message, Trade Minister Cheong stated that winning overseas plant bid projects is a key means of export recovery, expressing hopes that the Government’s recent push for stronger cooperation with the Global South translates into diverse business opportunities across Korea’s plant sectors.   date2024-10-14

Hallyu Expo 2024 to launch in Tokyo, spurring further export momentum and bilateral exchanges

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea will hold the Tokyo Hallyu Expo 2024 (“Hallyu Expo”) from October 12–13 in Tokyo through joint organization with Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). The Hallyu Expo is an event organized to promote brand awareness and overseas market entry of Korea’s promising consumer goods and services across global regions experiencing Hallyu (Korean Wave). With the 60th anniversary of Korea and Japan’s normalization of diplomatic relations and the Osaka Expo both slated for next year, the Hallyu Expo’s launch in Tokyo will serve as a jumpstart to providing support for Korean companies’ Japanese market penetration. This year’s Hallyu Expo will host a large-scale trade show through collaboration with K-POP artists. A total of 428 buyers from home and abroad will take part in the trade show and roughly 40,000 people coming for the K-POP concert will be participating in the Hallyu Expo as well. The Hallyu Expo’s opening ceremony will share congratulatory video messages from some of the two countries’ representatives including Korea’s Ambassador to Japan Park Cheol-hee and Japan-Korea Friendship Association Federation Chairman and Japan’s former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1965, Korea-Japan relations have advanced to an important partnership for economic cooperation. With increasing intergovernmental and people-to-people exchanges, the number of mutual travelers reached 9.27 million in 2023 and the two countries expect the number to surpass an all-time high of 10 million this year. MOTIE aims to make use of the occasion to promote Korean consumer goods like food and cosmetics, services, and MPE (materials, parts, equipment) companies to Japanese buyers and directly communicate the strengths of Korean products to Japanese consumers. The Hallyu Expo will also take active advantage of online platforms to incorporate the changing consumer trends, showcasing various programs for participants to gain firsthand experience of Korea’s industry and culture.   date2024-10-11

Korea highlights importance of policy coordination for global supply chain resilience at G7 Ministerial

Korea’s Deputy Minister for FTA Negotiations Roh Keon-ki attended the G7 Industry and Technological Innovation Ministerial on October 10 in Rome, Italy, as Chief Delegate of the Korean government. The session was attended by representatives of the G7 members (Italy, Canada, EU, France, Germany, Japan, UK, U.S.) for discussions on global challenges with regard to the resilience and sustainability of the critical materials supply chain and related policy measures. Deputy Minister Roh assessed that the recent global challenges, such as geopolitical tensions, climate change, and digital transition, are exposing vulnerabilities of the existing supply chain and shared how Korea is taking steps to reduce dependence on other countries through the “3050” strategy to halve its import dependence of critical items by 2030, while enhancing disruption predictability and minimizing repercussions through the Early Warning System.  He also added that Korea is in the process of establishing the Industrial Supply Chain Data Platform, which will enable companies to exchange valuable supply chain data without having to disclose trade secrets. Highlighting that global supply chain resilience and sustainability are difficult goals for countries to attain solely by individual effort, the deputy minister emphasized that long-term strategy and joint policy coordination are essential. He stated that Korea, as the inaugural chair of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Crisis Response Network (CRN) and next year’s chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), is committed to cooperating with G7 members in turning the global challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation.   date2024-10-11

Korea and Singapore advance cooperation in supply chains, energy, and high-tech industries

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on October 8 that the ministry will be expanding forward-looking cooperation in areas like supply chains, energy, and high-tech industries with Singapore, the global hub of logistics, technology, and energy, on the occasion of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee’s state visit. First, on the margins of the Korea-Singapore summit talks (October 8), MOTIE entered into three intergovernmental memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). The two ministries sealed the Supply Chain Partnership Arrangement (SCPA), Korea’s first bilateral supply chain partnership agreement. Under the SCPA, Korea and Singapore will closely monitor and exchange supply chain disruptions, convene emergency meetings, and provide mutual customs support. MOTIE also inked an MOU with Singapore for cooperation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) areas such as LNG swaps and joint purchases with an aim to stabilize domestic natural gas supplies and reduce costs. Lastly, the two ministries forged a technology cooperation MOU to push joint R&D in future mobility, artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, and other high-tech industries, through which both sides look forward to creating synergy from Singapore’s advanced innovative capacity and Korea’s high-tech manufacturing technology. The MOU signing ceremony was followed by the Korea-Singapore Business Forum, organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) with the participation of 250 persons, including MOTIE Minister Dukgeun Ahn and Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng. The two countries’ companies and institutions signed 10 MOUs in energy, infrastructure, high-tech industries, retail, and commerce. In hydrogen, LNG, and other energy and infrastructure areas, the two sides sealed five MOUs. They plan to engage in joint research in next-generation energy systems, hydrogen technology, and clean energy areas with the participation of both countries’ businesses and universities. In high-tech, two MOUs were inked, including one on the commercialization and market expansion of autonomous cars. Through the MOU, it is expected that Korea’s self-driving carmakers will be able to establish a base for entry into Southeast Asian markets. In retail and commerce, Korea and Singapore closed two MOUs, spurring anticipation for Korean food and retail businesses’ further entry into Asia’s logistics hub. In entertainment, the two sides inked an MOU for promoting K-POP performances and events across Singapore and other Asian markets as well as supporting the discovery of new artists. MOTIE plans to provide active assistance so that the MOUs forged on this occasion can lead to tangible outcomes.   date2024-10-10