Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea’s auto production and sales decline in 2016

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 11 that Korea’s auto production, domestic sales and exports all appear to have slowed in 2016 despite some numbers having bounced back towards the year-end. Data revealed that although car production and exports in December rose 5.9 percent to 434,877 units and 6.3 percent to 300,242 units, respectively, from a year earlier, domestic sales dropped year-on-year by 7.2 percent to 186,035 units. However, when compared to the mon date2017-01-11

FDI in Korea hits fresh record high in 2016

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Tuesday that the foreign direct investment (FDI) newly pledged in 2016 reached a record high of USD 21.3 billion, showing a 1.9 percent rise from $20.91 billion a year ago.   This figure marked the largest amount of FDI pledged in history for a four-quarter-period, surpassing the earlier record of $20.91 billion set in 2015. The amount of new FDI into the country has now surpassed the $20 billion mark for two years in a row, accordin date2017-01-05

Korean exports jump 6.4 percent in December

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Sunday that South Korean exports rose by 6.4 percent to USD 45.1 billion in December last year compared to the same period a year ago, while on-year imports rose by 7.3 percent to $38.1 billion. Accordingly, the trade balance in December stood at a $7 billion surplus, remaining in the positive for the 59th consecutive month.With the help of the positive growth of exports in November and December in a row, quarterly exports turned to po date2017-01-04

Korea to invest 14 trillion won into new energy projects

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 4 that it expects Korea will invest nearly 14 trillion won into emerging energy industries, primarily driven by an increase in investments by the private sector.   Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan hosted a meeting between himself, the financial sector, public sector, as well as other suppliers and business leaders, in order to share investment plans and introduce some of the new businesses that are currently date2017-01-04

Korea to unify charging method of electric cars

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on December 29 that it plans to standardize the charging mechanism for electric vehicles in Korea. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) recognizes the need to integrate the charging methods of electric cars -- especially given the country’s growing market for EVs -- and believes now is the most suitable time to begin making those changes for the long run. There are currently five major charging standards recognized by date2016-12-29

Ministry hosts emergency meeting for export policy check-up after impeachment vote

Led by the Trade-Industry-Energy MinisterJoo Hyunghwan, the Ministry hosted an urgent meeting to inspect current export environment and to predict the outlook for exports next year on Dec 13 in Seoul with key exporters and export promotion-related organizations like KOTRA and Korea Trade Insurance Corp. in its efforts to minimize the impact from the parliament’s impeachment vote against the President last Friday.    In an opening remark, Minister Joo underscored growing unce date2016-12-13

Korean exports jump 2.7% in November

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that exports rose 2.7 percent in November, posting USD 44.5 billion, and  imports also rose 10.1 percent compared to the same month last year, posting $37.5 billion. Trade balance in November came to a $8 billion surplus, and recorded the largest monthly volume in both exports and imports since July 2015. The driving force behind this export growth is the rise of major export goods including semiconductors, petrochemi date2016-12-01

Data for Korean car industry shows decline in Oct

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy released on Oct 10 that the data for the Korean automobile industry  showed the downward trend  last month. The domestic production has declined by 14.2 percent, domestic sales has declined by 10.0 percent and exports has declined by 13.1 percent, compared to the same period last year.    The number of cars produced here  fell to 347,470 units in October, a year-on-year drop of 14.2 percent, due to car industry walkouts, typho date2016-11-24