Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Sales Trend of Major Retailers for October 2014

November 26, 2014 –South Korea’s three biggest department stores saw their combined sales fall by 2.2 percent in October from a year earlier, data provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) showed today. 1. Non-food - Miscellaneous : Same month in 2013(-3.5), Previous month(1.9) - Women’s suit : Same month in 2013(-3.8), Previous month(22.2) - Women’s casual : Same month in 2013(-0.8), Previous month(26.5) - Men’s clothing : Same month in 2013(-6.5), Previous month(31.3) - Kids’ sports : Same month in 2013(-1.6), Previous month(29.8) - House-hold goods : Same month in 2013(-3.1), Previous month(22.0) - Overseas brand : Same month in 2013(-2.1), Previous month(4.7) - Sub-total : Same month in 2013(-2.9), Previous month(17.3) 2.Food : Same month in 2013(3.8), Previous month(-21.4) 3.Total : Same month in 2013(-2.2), Previous month(10.5) Sales at the nation’s major discount-store chains, including E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus, were also down by 0.9 percent last month compared to a year ago, according to the data. 1. Non-food - Home appliance cultural goods : Same month in 2013(5.9), Previous month(-2.9) - Clothing : Same month in 2013(-1.6), Previous month(5.2) - Household goods : Same month in 2013(-3.0), Previous month(-10.2) - Sports : Same month in 2013(-4.6), Previous month(2.4) - Miscellaneous : Same month in 2013(-5.7), Previous month(-32.9) - Sub-total : Same month in 2013(-1.0), Previous month(-8.4) 2. Food: Same month in 2013(-0.3), Previous month(-18.6) 3. Total: Same month in 2013(-0.9), Previous month(-10.7) Compared with the previous month, sales at the major department stores, including Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Shopping and Shinsegae, were up by 10.5 percent, while sales of the big three discount chains dropped by 10.7 percent. Sales at convenience stores grew by 6.1 percent from a year earlier, but were down 4.0 percent from the previous month. For inquiry, contact the foreign media spokesman’s office at [email protected] date2014-12-24

South Korea and China’s Guizhou Province Discuss Bilateral Cooperation

November 25, 2014 – The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that the MOTIE’s 2nd Vice Minister Moon Jae-do met with Meng Qiliang, vice-governor of Guizhou Province, in Seoul yesterday to discuss ways to promote bilateral economic and industrial cooperation between South Korea and the Chinese region. Guizhou Province, which is widely known as the gateway to the southwest region of China, is one of the core areas under China’s Western Development Strategy implemented in 2000, and is expected to be a growing partner for South Korea in economic cooperation. At the meeting, 2nd Vice Minister Moon stressed the importance of leveraging the South Korea-China FTA for trade expansion and industrial cooperation, and proposed that the two sides work together to find new growth engines for both countries. Vice-governor Meng Qiliang expressed his hopes for investment by South Korean companies in Guizhou Province’s key industries, including the chemical, heavy and tourism industries. For inquiry, contact the foreign media spokesman’s office at [email protected] date2014-12-24

Roadmap for 3D Printing Strategic Technology Released

November 25, 2014 – The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) held a public briefing today at the Hilton Hotel in Seoul to release the 3D printing technology roadmap, MOTIE announced in a statement. The roadmap was established as a follow-up measure to the ‘3D printing industry development strategies’ determined by the National Science & Technology Council in April. About 200 representatives from the industrial, academic, research and government sectors, including Baek Gi-hun, Chief of Information and Communications Convergence Policy Office at the MSIO and Mun Seung-wuk, MOTIE’s System Industry Officer, attended the meeting, MOTIE said. According to the roadmap, the ten key areas the government will focus on for the next ten years are divided into eight product areas, which are medicine, die & mold, culture and defense, electricity and electronics, cars, airlines, ship building and energy, and two service areas of design and distribution. The South Korean government presented 15 major strategic technologies in the areas of equipment, material and software for 3D printing to foster these ten areas. MOTIE said that the two government agencies will confirm the roadmap by the end of this year and present it as a guideline for inter-agency cooperation and 3D printing related R&D projects. For inquiry, contact the foreign media spokesman’s office at [email protected] date2014-12-24

South Korea and Kuwait Hold Joint Committee on Energy Cooperation

November 25, 2014 – The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that South Korea and Kuwait held their third joint committee meeting on energy cooperation in Seoul yesterday. Lee Sang-jin, Deputy Director General for Trade Cooperation at MOTIE led the South Korean delegation, while Nawal Al-Fuzaia, Assistant Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Oil led the Kuwaiti delegation for the meeting, the ministry said in a statement. Kuwait is South Korea’s second-largest supplier of crude oil and its third-largest exporter of LPG, while South Korea is the largest export destination for Kuwait. At the meeting, the two sides agreed to cooperate closely in oil development and research in order to secure a stable supply of energy, which is essential for the sustainable economic growth of the two countries. South Korea asked Kuwait to support the participation of South Korean companies in a new refinery project (worth US$14 billion, up for bid in January 2015) led by Kuwait National Petroleum Company. Assistant Undersecretary Nawal Al-Fuzaia mentioned that South Korea’s excellent plant technology had contributed to building the energy infrastructure in Kuwait, and stressed the importance of energy cooperation between the two countries. For inquiry, contact the foreign media spokesman’s office at [email protected] date2014-12-24

South Korea and Turkey Hold Energy Cooperation Forum

November 25, 2014 – The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that South Korea and Turkey held an energy forum in Ankara, Turkey today to promote energy cooperation between the two countries. The South Korean delegation included representatives of public energy agencies such as Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), Korea South East Power (KOSEP) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and private organizations such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), SK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C) and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. The forum follows up on the free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and Turkey, which entered into effect in May 2013, and the agreement on the service and investment sectors that was initiated in September 2014. At the forum, the representatives not only discussed energy such as thermal power generation but also covered other related areas such as plant construction among the many areas of cooperation under the bilateral FTA. In his remarks, Kim Chang-gyu, Deputy Director General for Trade Policy at MOTIE, stressed that Turkey is an attractive investment destination, with abundant energy cooperation opportunities for South Korea. After their visit to Turkey, the South Korean delegation visited Bulgaria, and the representatives attended a business cooperation forum between South Korea and Bulgaria to discuss bilateral industrial and energy cooperation. For inquiry, contact the foreign media spokesman’s office at [email protected] date2014-12-24

Gas pipelines older than 10 years are subject to mandatory inspection

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 24 that it's implementing the Integrity Management Program for Gas Distribution Pipeline due to the reasons that 42.1 percent of the gas pipelines are in the urban areas, and 76.4 percent of them are prone to accident since they're more than 10 years old.     According to the program, gas suppliers will be required to inspect the high pressure pipelines in urban areas that are older than 10 years, and government agencies will check and evaluate the inspection.     Liquefied petroleum gas tanks will also be subject to history management system starting from 2016. It will be done by attaching an RFID to the LP gas tanks to manage the entire manufacturing, sales and inspection processes, and provide information to consumers.     MOTIE expects that implementing this system can reduce LP gas-related accidents by 75.6 percent, and save 72 billion won ($ 63 million) on safety costs.     In addition to this, rubber hoses in LP gas facilities will be replaced with metal pipes, and more timer corks will be supplied to automatically cut off the gas after a set period of time.     * Short version date2014-12-24

Korean students to work as interns at Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 23 that starting from January next year, Korean students will work as interns at Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) for eight weeks.     During this period, they'll learn the operation of nuclear power plants by working with the ENEC staff of various nationalities.     At the same time, ENEC will start hiring Korean college graduates.     In return, 30 college students in the UAE will work as interns at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., LTD (KHNP) and other nuclear power-related agencies in Korea.     * Short version date2014-12-23

Korean national gas services see improved scores in assessments

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 22 that after conducting an assessment of services provided by 33 city gas companies throughout the country, it has found that the number of "Excellent" companies has increased from 1 to 7 last year, and the number of "Unsatisfactory" companies has decreased from 10 to 4.     Their average score has also increased from 74.7 to 82.6.     Some of the exemplary cases include one of the gas companies' development and distribution of mobile apps for self-inspection and gas bills for the convenience of gas users, while another company reduced the time of response to complaints by having its employees manage the complaints on a real-time basis.     MOTIE encourages competition between companies and improvement of services by showing the assessment results every year.     * Short version date2014-12-22