Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea AI and System IC Innovation Center (K-ASIC) opening ceremony

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held the launching ceremony of the Korea AI and System IC Innovation Center (K-ASIC) in San Hose, California, on September 5 (local time) and promoted Korea’s system chip companies and their products, and the two countries sought measures for stronger chip industrial cooperation.   The ceremony was attended by representatives of MOTIE, Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA), K-ASIC tenant businesses, U.S. chip companies, Stanford University, and relevant industry insiders of both countries. Participants discussed measures for stronger Korea-U.S. semiconductor industrial cooperation. date2024-09-09

Korea AI and System IC Innovation Center takes off in San Hose

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on September 5 the launching of the Korea AI and System IC Innovation Center (K-ASIC) in San Hose, California, which will serve as a hub for supporting Korea’s system semiconductor companies’ entry into the U.S. market.  Held to promote Korea’s system chip firms and their products, the opening ceremony was attended by representatives of MOTIE, Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA), K-ASIC tenant businesses, U.S. chip companies, Stanford University, and relevant industry insiders of both countries. Participants discussed measures for stronger Korea-U.S. semiconductor industrial cooperation. As the U.S. takes up 70 percent of the world’s system chip market, local penetration is essential for Korea’s fabless companies, IP firms, and design houses to grow into global businesses. Accordingly, the ministry has established K-ASIC in San Hose, home to major chip companies, and announced plans to provide comprehensive assistance to domestic firms for U.S. market entry through K-ASIC with respect to technology development, verification, certification consulting, promotion, and networking. Moreover, the ministry intends to continue private sector cooperation through K-ASIC as an extension of joint efforts with the U.S. for next-generation semiconductor collaboration that have continued since President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit in April 2023. A MOTIE official stated that AI semiconductor technology is the gamechanger that will further enhance Korea’s chip dominance and expressed hopes for K-ASIC to give birth to a world-leading company. To this end, the ministry aims to establish a base for raising the competitiveness of homegrown companies through funding, talent training, and production infrastructure support, including the development of a system chip verification support center. On occasion of the launching of K-ASIC, MOTIE will hold a conference with chip companies operating in the local U.S. market on September 6 (local time) and discuss measures for stronger support for U.S. market entry.   date2024-09-06

Investigation shows 40 ODP products fail to meet safety standards

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that an investigation on 190 popular items sold on overseas online platforms with a large number of domestic users has found that 40 of them fail to comply with Korea’s safety standards. Against the backdrop of increased safety concerns over overseas direct purchases (ODPs), the investigation was conducted on 190 best-selling items sold on overseas online platforms. As a result, 21.1 percent of them failed to meet safety standards, comparatively higher than the performance of domestic retail goods (6.1 percent) investigated during the first half of this year. Fourteen out of the investigated 66 electrical appliance products failed the safety check—direct current power supplies (8), LED apparatuses (3), power plugs and sockets (2), and waffle-makers (1). Among the 30 daily necessity items investigated, 11 tested as unsafe, including portable lasers (3) and helmets (2). Fifteen out of 94 children’s products that failed safety standards were textile goods (7), toys (4), and baby carriers (1). KATS has disclosed the product information of the abovementioned 40 items on related websites (www.safetykorea.kr, www.consumer.go.kr) and requested ODP platform operators to block the selling of these items. KATS plans to keep expanding the scope of safety investigations on ODP products in view of the high level of public concern, with the second round slated for September.   date2024-08-29

Korea steps up support measures for reshoring companies in high-tech strategic industries

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that the enforcement of the following two amended public notices—the amended notice on support for reshoring companies (“Reshoring Notice”) and the amended notice on local government entities’ state funding criteria for attracting reshoring companies (“Reshoring Subsidy Notice”)—begins August 30 as part of follow-up to the Reshoring Company Support Strategy 2.0 (announced May 7) to invigorate reshoring in advanced industries. First, the amendments impose a higher cap on state funding for reshoring companies in industries categorized as “National Strategic” and “National High-Tech Strategic Technology.” Companies reshoring to Korea’s capital region will receive up to KRW 20 billion (up ₩5 billion), while those reshoring to non-capital regions will receive up to ₩40 billion (up ₩10 billion).  Second, newly added to the list of businesses eligible for the exemption of overseas subsidiary restructuring requirements are companies manufacturing items of national security concern, as well as those opting to reshore through cooperation with domestic buyers.  Third, with regard to reshored companies in advanced industries, the amended public notices have removed the restriction on making new overseas investments subsequent to receiving subsidies and being granted the exemption of abovementioned overseas restructuring requirements.  Fourth, the amendment provides subsidy priority to high-tech businesses that move into National High-Tech Strategic Industry and MPE (materials, parts, equipment) specialization complexes. Also, the reshoring of two or more companies will be recognized as joint reshoring as long as they have the same overseas business location—even when domestic locations differ— receiving up to a 5-percentage point increase in subsidy rates. According to MOTIE, a total of 13 Korean companies have reshored this year, and the public notice amendments are anticipated to spur further reshoring of firms in advanced industries, such as semiconductors, displays, and secondary batteries.   date2024-08-29

Talented youth and companies seeking win-win at Global Talent Fair 2024

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea is co-hosting the Global Talent Fair 2024 with the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) through August 27–28 at COEX in Seoul. The Global Talent Fair was launched to provide decent employment opportunities to job-seeking youth and connect quality talent with global businesses. As did last year, three existing job fairs were integrated into one and drew the participation of an unprecedented 400 companies. This year’s event newly showcases recruiting booths for semiconductors, secondary battery, and bio sectors to address young job-seekers’ keen interest towards employment in advanced industries. Launched in July, the Global Talent Supporters—a team comprising 20 undergraduate students—will support the job-seeking and original self-promotional activities of young talent through in-person interviews at companies and sharing of job market information. At the Global Talent Fair, job-seekers can access a variety of support programs, including one-on-one interviews with companies’ hiring managers, counseling, special lectures, success stories, and job briefings. They can also tap into one-stop information service on recruitment by foreign-invested firms and overseas companies lesser known than domestic counterparts. MOTIE’s Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the opening ceremony and gave a congratulatory message, stating that “Korea is lately garnering attention as the nucleus of the supply chain for advanced industries like semiconductors and secondary batteries, with the nation’s human resources heightening investment attractiveness.” MOEL Minister Lee Jung-sik expressed hope that Global Talent Fair 2024 will foster mutual growth, helping companies recruit valuable talent and Korea’s youth achieve their goals.   date2024-08-27

Trade Minister attends Global Talent Fair 2024

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the Global Talent Fair 2024 opening ceremony with Employment and Labor Minister on August 27 at COEX in Seoul with participation of 400 companies to support job-seeking youth’s employment. The trade minister gave a congratulatory message to encourage companies and youth, then toured the booths set up by recruiting companies date2024-08-27

Korea’s retail industry grows 6.3% in July

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced on August 27 that Korea’s retail industry grew 6.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) in July 2024, with sales declining 3.0 percent offline and increasing 16.9 percent online, 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. Offline sales were affected by the lower number of holidays (-2 days YoY) and frequent rains (+4 rainy days YoY), which led to sluggish department store sales (down 6.4 percent) and robust sales at convenience stores (up 2.9 percent) and SSMs (up 1.4 percent) as more consumers opted to shop closer to home. By offline retail channel, hypermarket sales dropped 7.9 percent overall and declined across all categories due to less holidays and more frequent rains, with food products and home appliances/culture down 5.2 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively. Department store sales sank 6.4 percent as the majority of categories fell, including foreign designer labels (down 11.0 percent), household goods (down 5.0 percent), and miscellaneous goods (down 4.0 percent). Convenience store sales rose 2.9 percent overall. Recurrent rains negatively impacted sales of coffee, water, and other beverages, while highballs, alcoholic beverages, and gimbap sales climbed, raising those of processed food (up 2.4 percent) and instant food products (up 2.3 percent) by a small margin. Meanwhile, the increased purchases of transit cards by foreign tourists are boosting the category labelled as “other” (up 3.4 percent). SSM operators showed an uptick of 1.4 percent in spite of the continued drop across nonfood items (down 3.9 percent), as sales expanded for agricultural, fishery, and livestock items (up 2.6 percent), processed food products (up 0.2 percent) and food items (up 1.9 percent). Online retail jumped 16.9 percent as the heat wave triggered demand for stamina health foods and sunscreen items, resulting in surging sales of food products (up 21.0 percent) and cosmetics (up 16.3 percent). Demand for food delivery services, detergent, and other daily household goods steadily advanced across categories like service/other (up 61.6 percent) and living furniture (up 12.8 percent), whereas sales of fashion/clothing (down 9.6 percent) and sports (down 7.8 percent) slowed.   date2024-08-27

Minister Ahn visits EO Technics

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn visited semiconductor and display laser and equipment manufacturer EO Technics in Anyang on August 20 after the meeting on the ministry’s Super Supplier Project, where he toured the production lines and encouraged workers. date2024-08-22

Korea boosts technical regulatory cooperation with Saudi Arabia and GCC

Director General Lee Chang-soo, in charge of technical regulatory response at the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), is heading the Korean delegation visiting Riyadh through August 11–13 to hold a meeting with the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) and the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) for discussions on measures to strengthen technical regulatory cooperation. As Korea’s seventh largest trade partner, Saudi Arabia is high up on Korean companies’ list of attractive export destinations. Accordingly, KATS has been making long and consistent effort to push technical regulatory cooperation with SASO and GSO, entering into memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with each in 2008 and 2011, respectively. In January, a Saudi team visited Korea for the first time since the pandemic outbreak to give a briefing on technical regulatory policies and related updates. This visit to Riyadh is an extension of the above technical regulatory cooperation. Notably, domestic companies like LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor joined the delegation to take part in the meeting to provide in-person explanations of their challenges and discussed possible solutions. During the two-day meeting, the parties examined nine issues brought forward by Korean firms. Among the nine, three issues were resolved, including the requirements for minimum energy efficiency and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) exceeding 3.5 metric tons. The other six remain for further discussions, including the issue of EV certification.  Director General Lee stated that for other export destinations with which Korean firms require assistance in technical regulatory compliance, the Government will likewise make site visits to swiftly resolve issues.   date2024-08-21

Minister Ahn chairs Super Supplier Project Conference

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn chaired the Super Supplier Project Conference on August 20 at EO Technics in Anyang, where he announced the Korean government’s measures for nurturing materials, parts, and equipment (MPE) companies into “Super Suppliers” that are capable of wielding absolute dominance over the global supply chain. The conference was attended by representatives of domestic MPE firms and relevant institutions, including Jahwa Electronics, PI Advanced Materials, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT). date2024-08-20