Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea-Central America reach FTA agreement

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister announced on Thursday that South Korea, the fourth-largest economy in Asia, reached an agreement for a free trade deal with six Central American countries, including Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama.      It is the first trade pact agreed between Central American countries and an Asian country, the Ministry explained.   Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyung-hwan and his counterparts from those six date2016-11-17

Ministry reviews Korea-U.S. trade issues in response to election results

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release on Wednesday that it hosted an emergency meeting with other trade policy-related ministries at 2 p.m. (local time) in Seoul in other to review trade issues with its second trade partner in preparation for the victory of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump who is known for his anti-trade stance.     Led by the Ministry’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Lee Inho, the discussion of officials in the meeting extended to the date2016-11-09

Korean exports fall 3.2 percent in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in its press release on Nov 1 that South Korean exports fell 3.2 percent to  USD 4.19 billion  compared to the same month previous year, while on-year inbound shipments posted $3.48 billion, a 5.4 percent drop. Accordingly, the country's trade balance last month stood at  $7.2 billion, remaining in the black for 57 months straight.  Main factors negatively affecting the exports performance included fewer working d date2016-11-01

7th round of negotiations for Korea-Central America FTA open in Seoul

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that 7th round of talks for an free trade agreement between Korea and six Central American countries composed of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, was open in Seoul on Oct 24 for a week-day run.    Yeo Han-koo, Ministry's Deptuy Director General of FTA, expressed hope that all parties involved will strive to make progresses for signing a high-level trade pact.   This round of talks will focus date2016-10-24

Korea to operate four nuclear reactors in UAE for 60 years

Korea and the United Arab Emirates signed a deal to set up a joint venture to operate four nuclear reactors under construction in Bakarah ,the United Arab Emirates, on Oct 20 in Abu Dhabi.   Under the deal, the UAE’s nuclear operator and the Korea Electric Power Corporation, the prime contractor for UAE’s first nuclear plant construction, will set up the joint venture to operate the four reactors in Bakarah for the next 60 years.   KEPCO will secure an 18 percent date2016-10-20

KATS recommends consumers stop using Galaxy Note 7

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the roof of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy issued three recommendations for consumers and Samsung Electronics, the manufacturer of Galaxy Note 7, on Tuesday following a meeting on Monday which concluded that there is a possibility of a new type of defect in the mobile phone beyond the battery issue.  Below are the three recommendations issued collectively by KATS officials, Samsung Electronics and technological experts date2016-10-11

Domestic automotive sales and production fell in September

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Oct 7 that the domestic automotive sales fell 13.8 percent to 128,674 units in September compared with the same period last year, with the end of the special consumption tax cut.   Local car production also dropped 22.7 percent to 258,026 units last month from a year ago mainly due to the prolonged walkout of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the county’s top two automakers.   Affected by the shrinking car production, car export date2016-10-07

Korea's fresh FDI hits new record high in first 9 months of 2016

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Oct 4 that foreign direct investment newly pledged in the first nine months of this year has reached a record high of USD 15.05 billion, a 13.4 percent climb from $13.27 billion a year ago.   It marked the largest amount of FDI pledged in history for a nine-month period, surpassing the earlier record of $14.8 billion tallied over the same period in 2014. For the third quarter alone, new FDI pledges also gained 2.1 percent on-year to a date2016-10-04