Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea’s retail industry advances 11.7% in January

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that Korea’s retail industry grew 11.7 percent year-on-year in the month of January 2025, with offline and online sales advancing 8.8 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. MOTIE's monthly retail sales figures are based on surveys of 23 major retailers. Thirteen of them are brick-and-mortar retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four super supermarket (SSMs) operators. The remaining 10 are online retailers. By offline retail channel, hypermarket sales jumped 16.1 percent as Seollal holiday demand spurred sales across all categories, centering on food products (up 19.1 percent), home appliances/culture (up 7.5 percent), and home/living (up 8.2 percent). Department store sales climbed 10.3 percent on the backs of Seollal gift purchases, led by foreign designer labels (up 17.3 percent), food products (up 24.9 percent), and kids/sports (up 9.3 percent). Convenience store sales inched up 1.7 percent, with food products (up 2.5 percent) and nonfood products (up 0.9 percent) both increasing, whereas instant food products (down 5.0 percent) shrank for the first time since last year’s Chuseok holidays in September 2024. SSM operators rose 4.8 percent as food products (up 5.1 percent) and nonfood products (up 1.4 percent) both grew, thanks to higher demand for home dining and kitchenware during the Seollal holidays. Online retail sales (up 14.6 percent) enjoyed robust demand for food products (up 19.6 percent), cosmetics (up 7.7 percent), and service/other (up 73.3 percent), fueled by purchases of Seollal holiday gift and e-coupons, rental services for water purifiers and other items, as well as the expansion of online platforms’ delivery services. Meanwhile, sales of fashion/clothing (down 12.8 percent), sports (down 11.9 percent), and home appliances/electronics (down 6.2 percent) continued to slow.   date2025-02-25

Korea and Vietnam to boost nuclear energy cooperation

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea met Vietnam’s Trade and Industry Minister Nguyen Hong Dien today in Seoul for bilateral talks on measures to widen energy and trade cooperation. Korea’s biggest trading and investment partner among ASEAN members and third largest trading partner in the world following China and the U.S., Vietnam is home to approximately 9,000 Korean companies. Today’s bilateral talks took place on the margins of Minister Nguyen Hong Dien’s visit to Korea for discussions on nuclear power cooperation, as Vietnam is recently gearing up to resume its nuclear energy development.  During the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation introduced its nuclear policy trends and proposed that the two countries expand their bilateral nuclear energy cooperation, to which the Korean delegation suggested that the two countries resume the bilateral director general-level nuclear industry dialogue channel, which has been on hiatus since 2017, for consultations on more concrete collaboration measures. In view of recent uncertainties in the trade landscape, both sides agreed to closely communicate and work together to mitigate business challenges Korean companies experience in the local Vietnamese market and to swiftly finalize negotiations on upgrading the Korea-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for customs convenience. They also decided to bolster cooperation in supply chains through the critical minerals supply chain technology cooperation center project to be launched this year.   date2025-02-25

Korea to strengthen energy cooperation with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia

Deputy Minister for Energy Policy Lee Ho-hyeon at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea is visiting the Republic of Türkiye and Saudi Arabia through February 24–27 for high-level intergovernmental talks on bilateral energy cooperation in areas like nuclear reactors, power grids, hydrogen, and petroleum. On February 24, Deputy Minister Lee is meeting with Turkish Deputy Ministers of Energy and Natural Resources Zafer Demircan and Ahmet Berat Çonkar to exchange views on the two countries’ various energy agendas such as nuclear power and clean energy. Under an aim to secure stable energy supply, Türkiye is seeking to build a 20GW nuclear reactor by 2050. In addition to executing the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) project launched in 2010, the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources is currently on the lookout for a project contractor for nuclear new builds in the Sinop and Thrace regions. As the first intergovernmental nuclear energy dialogue in 13 years between the two countries, today’s high-level meeting is expected to spur related discussions going forward. On the 26th, Deputy Minister Lee will also be meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Minister of Energy for Electricity Affairs Nasser Al-Qahtani to share policy trends and bilateral cooperation measures regarding large-scale NPP projects, power grid expansions, and clean hydrogen. Saudi Arabia is in the process of diversifying its power mix and transitioning to a system suitable for sustainable growth, leading to anticipation of considerable potential for collaboration with Korea over a wide range of energy areas.   date2025-02-24

Minister Ahn discusses stronger Korea-U.S. cooperation with U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires ad interim

Korea’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea held talks with Ambassador Joseph Yun, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, today to discuss measures for stronger Korea-U.S. cooperation in trade, investment, and energy. The two sides also agreed to continue joint efforts for Korea’s successful hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025. Minister Ahn assessed that Korea-U.S. relations have advanced towards an economic and advanced industrial alliance based on the steady expansion of bilateral trade and investment, expressing anticipation for the two countries’ continued and enhanced cooperation under the new U.S. administration. Viewing that the Korea-U.S. partnership has strong potential for further development in cutting-edge areas like batteries, semiconductors, shipbuilding, and energy, the minister underscored the need for continuity and stability on both sides with respect to policies that are likely to impact bilateral trade and investment. Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Yun responded that utmost efforts will be made at the U.S. Embassy level to bolster the Korea-U.S. alliance, which has progressed to deepen the two countries’ relations in all aspects over the past 70 years. The Korean government plans to maintain close consultation with the U.S. government while monitoring the new administration’s trade and economic measures with regard to their impact on bilateral trade and investment.   date2025-02-21

Korea and Netherlands discuss stronger industrial cooperation

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea met Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts today in Seoul for discussions on measures to strengthen Korea-Netherlands industrial cooperation. Among EU member states, the Netherlands is Korea’s second largest trading partner (USD 15.0 billion as of 2024) and biggest investor ($39.9 billion in accumulated pledges for 2024 as of September), with the two countries’ businesses vigorously engaged in collaboration in cutting-edge industries like semiconductors and batteries. During today’s talks, the two sides covered agenda items such as bilateral cooperation, economic security, supply chains, and semiconductors, sharing their industrial policy trends and cooperation progress. Noting the active Korea-Netherlands joint R&D cooperation in information and communications technology (ICT) and bio, Minister Ahn expressed anticipation for wider technology collaboration with continued in-depth consultations through the bilateral Joint Innovation Committee established between Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs. The minister further highlighted the need for continued intergovernmental cooperation in export controls and supply chains, and both sides agreed that economic security is a shared key issue as uncertainties are intensifying across the global trade landscape. Highly appraising the smooth progress of the bilateral semiconductor dialogue, Future Chips Academy, and other joint projects in the semiconductor field following the forging of the Korea-Netherlands Semiconductor Alliance in December 2023, Minister Ahn underscored the importance of close bilateral cooperation amid growing uncertainties in the global chip supply chain.   date2025-02-20

Korea’s automobile exports record 2nd highest for January

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that Korea’s automobile exports recorded USD 5.0 billion in January 2025, the second highest for the month.  Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) set fresh all-time highs in shipments for January, selling 35,701 units (up 35.5 percent year-on-year) in overseas markets, but the export value dropped 19.6 percent owing to last year’s high base effect and this year’s reduced number of working days (-4) from the long Seollal holidays. Korea’s automobile production amounted to 290,590 units in January, down 18.9 percent. In addition to the lower number of working days and high base effect, the decline is also attributed to temporary production suspension at a car manufacturing plant during the month of January for transitioning to EV production. Domestic sales fell 9.0 percent to 105,928 units. By model type, this year saw increasing demand for sedans whereas SUV sales enjoyed growth last year.   date2025-02-18

Korea and Czech Republic to advance carbon-free energy technology cooperation via joint forum

Today in Seoul, Vice Minister Namho Choe of the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) attended the Korea-Czech Republic Energy Technology Forum (“Forum”), which was co-hosted by MOTIE and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and co-organized by the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR).   The Forum was held with the participation of the Czech Minister for Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček, TACR Chairman Petr Konvalinka, and KETEP President Lee SeungJae among roughly 150 attendees comprising both countries’ industry, academia, and research experts and government officials for discussions on measures for bilateral cooperation in energy technology. During the presentation session, Korean and Czech experts shared the latest technology trends and proposed future technology collaboration measures centering on power grids and energy storage systems (ESS) in addition to carbon-free energy areas like nuclear power and clean hydrogen. In the following panel discussions and networking session, participants had the opportunity to broaden the scope of their mutual understanding spanning various technology fields and make progress in the search for joint projects. In his welcome address, Vice Minister Choe noted the Czech Republic’s status as the manufacturing powerhouse of Central Europe and highlighted that the two countries can avail themselves of meaningful opportunities amid the carbon neutrality challenge by generating synergy between Korean and Czech businesses. He added that full measure will be given towards creating new businesses in energy areas as well through continued support for joint research based on close bilateral cooperation. MOTIE plans to further develop the cooperation measures discussed during today’s Forum via consultation with relevant Czech authorities in selecting new Korea-Czech projects for international joint research.   date2025-02-18

Korea and Czech Republic hold 2nd Supply Chain and Energy Dialogue (SCED)

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea held the second Supply Chain and Energy Dialogue (SCED) meeting with the Czech Minister for Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček today in Seoul. Launched in September 2024, the SCED is a Korea-Czech Republic cooperation channel for enhancing bilateral strategic partnership under the aim to establish comprehensive and across-the-board economic cooperation in areas like trade, industry, and energy, including nuclear power. Today’s second SCED meeting was held to take stock of cooperation progress in trade, investment, supply chains, advanced industries, carbon-free energy, and nuclear power and to hold in-depth discussions on cooperative measures going forward. In view of the global rise of protectionism, both sides shared best practices for supply chain crisis response and measures to expand bilateral trade. For advanced industries, they discussed steps to establish centers for collaboration in battery, future mobility, and robots and entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for bilateral semiconductor cooperation in R&D and manpower training.  Regarding carbon-free energy, the Korean delegation shared Korea’s energy efficiency policies in industry, energy, and transportation areas and both sides agreed to bolster cooperation in developing clean hydrogen technology. Noting Korea’s smooth progress in the nuclear reactor contract negotiations in accordance with the predetermined timeline and procedures, the two sides further discussed cooperation in joint R&D and manpower training. At the Korea-Czech Republic investment and business conference held on the sidelines of the SCED meeting where the two countries’ relevant businesses and institutions signed a total of six MOUs, Minister Ahn expressed anticipation for wider bilateral trade and investment as well as cooperation across various areas including advanced manufacturing, supply chains, and energy. In light of the two countries’ 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their bilateral strategic partnership, Minister Ahn proposed that Korea and the Czech Republic enter a new dimension of cooperative ties by smoothly facilitating the final contract for the construction of new reactors in the Dukovany region.   date2025-02-17