Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea to roll out 4,000 hydrogen vehicles next year

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yunmo attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a new fuel cell stack plant at the Hyundai Mobis factory in Chungju on December 11. Fuel cell stacks are key components that make up more than half of the cost to build a hydrogen vehicle. Hyundai Mobis’ current fuel cell stack plant can produce about 3,000 stacks per year. With the new plant, the annual production volume is expected to increase date2018-12-11

Korea’s National Assembly ratifies revised KORUS FTA

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the Korean National Assembly ratified the revised Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) on December 7. The Korean government submitted a bill for the ratification of the revised KORUS FTA to the National Assembly on October 12. Now that the domestic procedure for implementing the deal is complete in Korea, the Korean government will discuss with its U.S. counterpart for the revised KORUS FTA to take effect on January 1, 2019. date2018-12-07

Ministry hosts 55th Trade Day Ceremony

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the 55th Trade Day Ceremony with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) to celebrate the country’s trade achievements at COEX in Seoul on December 7. In 2018, Korea’s trade grew at the fastest rate to reach USD 1 trillion, and its exports are expected to surpass $600 billion for the first time ever. Particularly, outbound shipments of semiconductors, general machinery, and petrochemicals are all projected to break their recor date2018-12-07

Korea’s November exports continue to stay above $50 billion

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on December 1 that Korea’s exports in November rose 4.5 percent to USD 51.9 billion from the same period of last year, exceeding $50 billion for seven straight months for the first time.This is also the first time the country has seen an export value that is greater than $50 billion for any November exports. Average daily exports also increased 4.5 percent to $2.2 billion, which is the largest among any November export value. Won-denomin date2018-12-01

Online retail sales increase 28.3 percent in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 30 that online retail sales in October increased 28.3 percent compared to the same period of last year due to greater demand for travel and concerts in the fall.Offline retailers, on the other hand, saw a decrease of 3.6 percent in sales mainly because of a base effect caused by last year’s Korean Thanksgiving Day that fell in October. This year, the Chuseok public holiday was in September.Despite the slight downturn of brick date2018-11-30

ICT exports increase at double-digit rate to $20.2 billion in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 14 that exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products in October reached USD 20.2 billion, up 12.3 percent from the same period last year.ICT imports also increased 10.3 percent to $10 billion from a year earlier, and the trade surplus stood at $10.2 billion.Surpassing $20 billion in ICT exports for three straight months was led by semiconductors and computers and peripheral devices.Semiconductor exports rose date2018-11-14

Korea’s auto exports, domestic sales, production all grow at double-digit rates in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 12 that Korea's automobile exports, domestic sales, and production in October all posted double-digit year-on-year growth rates because of more working days last month.Exports of automobiles recorded 230,086 units, up 32.2 percent from the same period last year. In terms of value, they jumped 35.7 percent to USD 3.9 billion. This is attributable to greater demand for newly launched sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and eco-friendly ca date2018-11-12

Korea’s October exports hit second highest on record

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 1 that Korea’s exports in October rose 22.7 percent year-on-year to USD 55 billion, the second highest on record.This achievement was possible because of both internal and external factors. The internal factors include the Korean firms’ pursuit of manufacturing high value products, diversification of exports items, and balanced growth of exports to foreign destinations. The external factors are strong manufacturing indu date2018-11-01