Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Bipartisan Council for the Korea-China FTA holds the 4th General Meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 30 that the Bipartisan Council for the Korea-China FTA held the 4th General Meeting on November 20 and agreed on a budget of 1.6 trillion won ($ 1.3 billion) to be allocated over a period of 10 years.     Some of the important details are as follows:     Fixed subsidy for all items produced from open field farming subject to support open field farming will be gradually increased to 600,000 won per ha until 2020. Research on the advantages of promoting the regional development accounting will be available for open field farming.     Among the fishery policy budgets, fixed interest rates on loans for the construction of fishing facilities will be reduced from 2.5 percent to 2 percent.     The ratio of debit system for damage preservation will be increased from 90 percent to 95 percent. Calculation methods and procedures for the level of contribution will be verified by a committee comprised of professors and experts, and the support committees represented by farmers and fishers will have the chance to object before the final decisions are made.     The consignment guarantee money from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund for farmers and fishers will be increased from 30 million won to 50 million won from December 1 and research will be conducted to improve the allocation of agricultural policy budget.     The maximum tax-free allowance will be increased from 20 million won to 30 million won for any income from coastal fisheries, island fishing and fish farming.     Jeju Island will be included in the list of less favored areas subject to the debit system for fisheries. The debit amount for less favored areas will be gradually increased to 700,000 won per ha between 2017 and 2020, and 700,000 won per fishery household.     As for pastures, the amount will be increased from 250,000 won per ha to 450,000 won by 2020.       The power rate for rice processing centers operated by a farmers’ cooperative and water supply and draining systems at sea salt farms will be reduced by 20 percent. Power rates applied with TMR used by a farmer or farmers’ cooperative will be converted to agricultural use.     The co-ownership system for trade profits only exists in Korea and it's impossible to implement the system due to technical and legal reasons. For these reasons, an alternative measure is implemented to create a budget of 1 trillion won over a period of 10 years through voluntary donation of 100 billion won from public organizations, Nonghyup and National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.     This is a voluntary program. The government will provide support incentives in order to promote the voluntary activities in forms of tax exemption on the donation, matching amount for losses incurred and giving Mutual Growth Index Points.     * Short version date2015-11-30

Motion on Korea-China FTA ratifications passed at the National Assembly meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 30 that Korean National Assembly passed the motion on the Korea-China ratifications.     According to the motion, customs duties on some of the trade items will be removed immediately if the Korea-China FTA is put in force within this year, and other items will also be free of customs duties on January 1, 2016. This will help Korean companies gain price competitiveness over other foreign companies in the Chinese market.     China currently accounts for about 25 percent of entire Korean exports. As such, the removal of customs duties following the FTA is likely to help Korean companies maintain the largest share of the Chinese import market.     Korean companies have been holding the largest share of the Chinese import market ever since achieving the largest share of the Chinese import market at 9.2 percent in 2013.     Once the Korea-China FTA is put in force, Korean companies will also be able to tap into some of the most promising service markets such as construction, environment, entertainment and law.     The Korea-China FTA is also expected to promote the growth of the Korean agricultural industry. Korean farm produce is very popular in China, which has been recording a two-digit growth in the agricultural industry since 2005.     The Korean government plans to take additional steps to set up a budget and offer tax rates that have been discussed as complementary measures at the bipartisan council meeting.     * Short version date2015-11-30

Energy vouchers to be issued from December 2015

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 30 that energy vouchers (Heating Card) will be issued from December 2015.     There are two different types of Energy Voucher: Plastic Card and Virtual Card. Plastic cards are issued by any of the Public Happiness Card Companies (BC, Lotte, Samsung). If you already have one, you don't have to have another one issued, and you can start using the card from December 2015.     The credit card companies currently accept applications via phone. If you want to have the card issued to you faster, visit one of the branches nearby.     The Virtual Card is for disabled people or those living in an apartment. Virtual Card holders don't have to have an actual card to choose power, gas or regional heating bill to be automatically paid from the voucher amount.     The Energy Voucher can be used from December 2015 to the end of March 2016. If you have any balance left in the voucher, it will be automatically deducted from the April power bill.     Welfare/medical beneficiaries who are over 65 years old or any households with a child under the age of 6 or under or a disabled person can qualify for the Energy Voucher.     The voucher amount differs by the number of family members, but it's usually 100,000 won ($90). The application deadline is the end of January 2016. In the month of November 2015 alone, more than 200,000 people have applied for the voucher.     * Short version date2015-11-30

Korea and France to jointly develop new industry technologies such as self-driving car

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 26 that the 2nd Korea-France Joint Forum for Innovation Industry took place on the same day in Paris, France and two countries decided on joint R&D objectives to launch technical cooperation from the end of this year.     They discussed matters of cooperation aimed at the promotion of innovation industries, and decided on joint R&D objectives in the areas of self-driving car and digital health care.   date2015-11-26

Department store sales hit record high in October 2015 after 3 years

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 26 that department store sales in October rose by 11.4 percent --- a record-high in three years --- compared to the same period of last year thanks to large-scale sale events.     This is the second time that department sales recorded a two-digit increase since August last year, when the sales rose by 10.8 percent. Department stores in Korea recorded a -1.8 percent sales increase from January to September this year.     Home appliance sales rose the most at 26.6 percent, followed by men's clothes (13.8 percent), imported brand items (12.4 percent) and women's dress (12.3 percent).     Convenience store sales also rose by 35.1 percent from the same period of last year. It's largely due to sale events, increased cigarette prices, PB sales increase and increased number of stores.     However, supermarket and SSM sales dropped by 0.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. This is because of decreased food sales since the Korean holiday season.     * Short version date2015-11-26

$ 127 mil to be invested in the development of wearable products over 5 years

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that the MOTIE and Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning will invest a total of 127 billion won ($114 million) over a period of 5 years in the promotion of the smart wearable industries.     Of the 127 billion, 111 billion won will be used in the development of wearable material and parts technology and 16 billion won in building support centers for commercialization.     The wearable technology market is sti date2015-11-25

Self-driving cars and drones controlled from 400km away now available

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 23 that with the support of the government, 7 universities and Hyundai Motor held the "Future Growth Engine Challenge Parade", where 7 self-driving cars completed the mission of driving from Yeongdong Bridge to COEX.     The cars started driving 3 minutes apart from each other to: 1) Recognize speed limits and signs while driving, 2) Recognize and stay on the lanes, 3) Recognize traffic signals and stop accordingly, 4) Change lanes and load passengers, 5) Recognize pedestrians and stop and go accordingly and 6) Evade parked vehicles.     Unlike the self-driving cars using GPS, the cars were driven based on video technology with which to control the cars indoors. The cars are designed to recognize the location with an error rate of within 15cm.     The parade was followed by drones. For the first time in Korea, drones in Marado Island were controlled 400km away in COEX, and full HD videos were transmitted on a real-time basis.     In particular, one operator was able to control a total of 5 drones at once to show that group flying is also possible.     The self-driving car and drone parades will be held again on November 29, 2015 at COEX.     * Short version date2015-11-23

Export and Import Trends for October 2015

      □ South Korea’s exports fell 15.8 percent to $43.5 billion and imports decreased 16.6 percent to $36.8 billion in September from a year earlier, resulting in a trade surplus, for the 45 consecutive month, of $6.7 billion.   □ By product, exports of most key items decreased, while those of mobile telecom devices increased. Exports of ships dropped due to a lull in exports of offshore plants this month, and those of semiconductors fell due to sluggish growth in the memory sector. By region, exports to most regions decreased, while those to Vietnam continued to increase.   □ Imports ofmajor raw materials continued to decrease, but imports of capital and consumer products maintained upward trends.   □ ○ The nation’s exports showed their biggest decline this year in October due to a sharp fall in overseas shipments, the price drop for oil-related products, and a high comparison basis from the same month last year when they posted a record amount.   ○ Notably, the total volume of exports fell for the first time in five months in October as more factories manufacturing petrochemical and oil-related products underwent routine repairs.   ○ In November, the decline in exports is expected to ease to a certain degree as ship deliveries rise with scheduled exports of offshore plants and shipments of oil-related products decrease less relative to lower oil prices from October of last year.   ○The Korean government plans to continue improving its current export structure concentrated on intermediary goods by diversifying export markets with a focus on countries that have been released from economic sanctions, including Iran. The government will also help develop more consumer products such as cosmetics and medical supplies as key export items.   date2015-11-20