Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea's automobile exports record $4.1 billion in January

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on February 15 that Korea’s automobile output, domestic sales, and exports (units) in January all experienced setbacks and declined 13.7 percent, 19.2 percent, and 6.4 percent, respectively. Exports value climbed by 2.3 percent. Total automobile output in January by Korean automakers dropped 13.7 percent to 271,054 units. Productions slowed due to several factories closing temporarily during national holiday period, and were particularl date2022-02-16

Trade Minister visits Switzerland to promote multilateral trade order

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo visited Geneva, Switzerland through February 9-10 and met with various counterparts to discuss measures for strengthening the multilateral trade order. Minister Yeo met with International Trade Center Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton and discussed prospects for cooperation in training up trade personnel. The meeting was followed by an online trade specialist session together with a local international trade law professor at the Permanent Mission of the Republ date2022-02-15

ICT exports achieve $19.7 billion for January

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on February 14 that Korea's exports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods in January expanded 20.7 percent to USD 19.7 billion, recording a historic high export value for January. Imports of ICT products grew 14.4 percent to $12.3 billion, and the trade balance stood at an estimated surplus of $7.3 billion. Month of January saw steady exports growth across small and mid-sized companies (up 24.9 percent to $4.9 billion), d date2022-02-14

Trade Minister holds inaugural Korea-UK FTA Committee Meeting

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held the inaugural Korea-UK FTA trade committee meeting with UK’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan in London on February 7, a first post-Brexit trade talks between the two countries. This meeting enabled the assessment of the Korea-UK FTA execution status as part of the follow-up measure of the Korea-UK summit talks held in New York in September of last year. Mutual efforts toward their applications to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agr date2022-02-14

RCEP takes effect for Korea as of February 1

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook announced that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) takes effect as of February 1 in Korea. This is in accordance with Agreement provisions on going into force 60 days after parliamentary approval submission to the Secretariat. The culmination of 8-year negotiations involving a total of 15 countries, this trade deal is easily the world’s largest FTA, covering approximately 30 percent of the world in terms of date2022-02-03

Korea's exports achieve $55.3 billion in January

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on February 1 that Korea’s exports in January rose 15.2 percent year-on-year to USD 55.3 billion. Imports also grew 35.5 percent to $60.2 billion. The trade balance turned negative to $4.9 billion from greater imports, produced by the steeper slope in energy price hikes. Monthly exports surpassed the $50 billion mark for the first time for January and posted double-digit growth despite the spread of Omicron, inflation concerns, and supp date2022-02-01

Minister Moon attends Local Win-Win Job Creation Signing Ceremonies

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook attended Win-Win Job Creation Signing Ceremonies held January 27 in Nonsan-si of Chungnam, and Jeonju-si and Iksan-si of North Jeolla Province where each region's labor, management, government, and community representatives came together to sign the Local Win-Win Job Creation Agreement. Pursued under the Special Act on Balanced National Development, the Local Win-Win Job Creation Agreement aims to create local jobs and stimulate investment bas date2022-01-28

Korea's 2021 retail sales advance 11.3 percent as both online and offline sales increase

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 27 that Korea’s annual retail sales in 2021 advanced 11.3 percent compared to 2020, thanks to strong online sales (up 15.7 percent). Brick-and-mortar sales also expanded by 7.5 percent.   The Ministry releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 25 major retailers, 13 of which are brick-and-mortar retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four SS date2022-01-27