Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea’s ICT exports rise 32.8% in July

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that Korea’s export and import of information and communication technology (ICT) goods reached USD 19.4 billion and $12.1 billion, respectively, for the month of July 2024. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $7.3 billion. Backed by robust exports of main items like semiconductors, displays, mobile phones, and computers/peripherals, ICT exports for July advanced 32.8 percent year-on-year, their growth rate entering the 30 percent thresholds for four months straight since April. Semiconductors (up 49.0 percent), displays (up 2.0 percent), mobile phones (up 69.4 percent), and computers/peripherals (up 51.1 percent) were among the major items driving growth. By region, exports were seen climbing across most destinations, including China (including Hong Kong) (up 31.1 percent), Vietnam (up 23.7 percent), the U.S. (up 40.1 percent), and the EU (up 23.5 percent). Meanwhile, Korea’s July import of ICT goods increased 6.0 percent year-on-year as demand for semiconductors, displays, and other key components increased.   date2024-08-16

Vice Minister Choe attends 14th APEC Energy Ministerial

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe, as the representative of the Korean government, attended the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministerial Meeting (EMM14) through August 15–16 in Lima, Peru, and engaged in discussions on expanding the use of clean energy and intraregional economic cooperation under the theme of “Sustainable Growth for Resilient Development.” At EMM14, participants agreed that clean energy transition plays a central role in facilitating resilient and inclusive development and decided to seek cooperation measures that take each economy’s conditions and situation into account. In the dedicated session, 21 APEC member economies actively discussed their respective policy efforts with regard to the following three topics: accelerating energy transition across the entire APEC region, energy approaches for expediting sustainable development, and policies for intraregional clean hydrogen development. During the session on seeking ways to catalyze the energy transition, Vice Minister Choe introduced Korea’s policy endeavors for expanding clean energy use and highlighted the need for each country to leverage a realistically feasible energy mix consisting of both renewables and carbon-free energy sources, such as nuclear and hydrogen power, as an innovative strategy and a means for technology utilization to ensure a sustainable energy transition. The vice minister also presented Korea’s plans for hosting next year's APEC EMM15 and related working groups, proposing that the EMM15 session topic address measures for utilizing carbon-free energy technologies to expand clean electrical power across the APEC region. The suggestion was met with support from a number of countries, including Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the U.S. On the margins of the APEC event, Vice Minister Choi held bilateral talks with counterparts from Canada, the U.S., and other countries and shared Korea’s progress on preparations for hosting the APEC EMM15 in 2025 and exchanged views on the need to harness carbon-free energy sources and joint policy efforts.   date2024-08-16

Minister Ahn discusses stronger economic and trade cooperation with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held a videoconference with the UK’s new Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on August 14 to congratulate his appointment and expressed hopes for close ministerial-level communication to build stronger Korea-UK economic cooperative ties going forward. Minister Ahn viewed that Korea and the UK have established solid economic cooperative relations as partners that share core values of free democracy and market economy, with the two countries’ globally competitive businesses in major advanced areas leading the economic ties based on vigorous investments and technology collaboration. He stated that their bilateral cooperation as trustworthy partners and friendly nations is all the more important in light of economic security issues and persisting geopolitical uncertainties, such as the Russia-Ukraine war. Moreover, the minister conveyed Korea’s stance of looking forward to a stronger comprehensive bilateral partnership based on the full implementation of the joint ambitions declared in the Downing Street Accord, which was adopted on the occasion of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit last November. They also discussed measures to bolster the two countries’ economic and trade relations, including ways to make progress on negotiations for upgrading the Korea-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA). date2024-08-14

19th International Standards Olympiad successfully closes with competition and harmony among young standards talent

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced the successful closing of the 19th International Standards Olympiad on August 14 in Asan, Cheonan, with the participation of an all-time high total of 200 students and teachers from 11 countries around the world in the global three-day event. For the main competition, 40 teams consisting of middle and high school students engaged in the competition through presentations and international standard document drafting on advanced technology products used in daily life, such as measures to evaluate the performance of smart devices’ voice recognition (middle school teams) and ethical guidelines on the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) technology (high school teams). Based on the judges’ results, Team KOPI from Singapore won the highest score and took the Platinum Prize, receiving the Prime Minister’s Award for its proposed international standard document on ethical AI utilization. Four teams (Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Uzbekistan) won the gold prize and were awarded the Trade, Industry and Energy Minister’s Award. date2024-08-14

Next-generation display standardization roadmap sets out to secure global technology super gap

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the international forum on display standardization “K-Display 2024” on August 14 at COEX in Seoul with the participation of industry, academia, and R&D experts from around the world, and announced the Next-Generation Display Standardization Roadmap (“Roadmap”). The designing of the Roadmap began last year as part of the Government’s strategy announced this May for the standardization of Korea’s advanced industries, by gathering opinions via display standardization forums, expert committees, and related conferences involving industry insiders, academia, and researchers. As major standardization candidate technologies, the Roadmap has selected organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), implantable light-emitting diodes (iLEDs), and other materials and parts deemed essential for securing new market leadership in the global display industry. It further proposes to set eight of domestic companies’ technologies as international standards by 2027, while also presenting strategies for the development of 11 national standard technologies on providing corporate assistance, such as in test evaluations.  Homegrown candidate technologies for international standards were uncovered based on corporate demand. In the OLED category, the Roadmap includes three technologies, including those on rollable display form factor change and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) display performance evaluation. Selected for the iLEDs category are also three technologies, including those on dynamic and optical properties measurement. The materials and parts category includes two technologies, including one on the mechanical properties measurement of ultra-thin glass. At K-Display 2024, experts from Korea, Germany, and the U.S. introduced measurement solutions for automotive displays and extended reality (XR) display performance standards, followed by presentations and discussions on standardization trends in carbon neutrality. date2024-08-14

Korea’s textile and fashion industry eyeing new growth via strategy tailored to build global competitiveness

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held a conference on August 13 at the Textile Center in Seoul with Korea’s textile and fashion companies and relevant experts, where he announced the Textile and Fashion Industry Competitiveness Strategy (“Strategy”) and discussed industry issues and future directions. The Strategy was established with aim to effectively respond to the following industry trends: the rapid growth of the industrial textile market, the accelerating demand for eco-friendly transition led by advanced countries, and the diffusion of the digital transformation (DX) across all areas, including product planning, production, and logistics. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is focused on leveraging the Strategy to nurture advanced industrial textiles, facilitate the eco-friendly transition of the textile and fashion value chain, diffuse the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology, and bolster the textile and fashion industrial base. The objective is to help the domestic industry overcome production contractions as latecomer countries are gaining ground and by 2030, expand the current 2-3 percent global market share of industrial and eco-friendly textiles to 10 percent and raise the level of digital transformation from the current 35 percent to 60 percent, to develop Korea into a textile and fashion powerhouse. First up, MOTIE is aiming to upgrade the textile and fashion industry by nurturing the advanced industrial textiles sector. To this end, the ministry plans to prioritize the development of key technologies in advanced industrial textiles to world-class level by 2030, including high-performance aramids, high-strength carbon fibers, extreme-condition resistant marine fibers, import-dependent advanced eco-friendly textiles, and next-generation electronic communication textiles. Moreover, starting in the latter half of this year, an Industrial Textile Alliance will be launched to uncover promising products and technologies, while a Tech Textile Product Certification Evaluation Support Center will be established next year to assist the credibility verification on industrial textile quality and performance. Meanwhile, a KRW 2.9 trillion policy funding will be used this year for supporting the technical consulting and facility investment efforts of apparel companies that incorporate industrial textiles in their product portfolio. Second, MOTIE will assist the eco-friendly transition of the textile and fashion industry value chain, for which the ministry aims to secure technologies on fiber-to-fiber textile recycling, plant-based vegan leather and such biomass fibers, and biodegradable (at least 90 percent) fiber manufacturing by 2030. Not only that, but ₩31 billion will be injected into developing technologies for waterless dyeing, wastewater reduction, and improving energy efficiency to support the green and low-carbon transition of textile production processes, and also go towards providing waste heat recovery facility to more than 200 SMEs by 2026. Furthermore, the ministry plans to establish and distribute the “Carbon Emissions Measurement Standardization Model” by 2026 and introduce the K-Eco Design Guidelines in 2025 (to enforce in 2027) to promote the recycling and use of eco-friendly materials in textile and apparel manufacturing. Third, MOTIE aims to accelerate the application of AI technology and digital transformation. By 2026, the ministry intends to develop an AI system for harnessing data and AI in new product planning that would shorten the design period by over 80 percent, while also laying the initial groundwork this year for a Connected Micro Factory that would enable high-speed production based on business collaborations. Automation facilities will be supplied to over 250 companies by 2028 for processes that are repetitive and in severe lack of manpower. Two more Meta Fashion Playgroun date2024-08-13

Budding standards talent gather in Asan to compete at 19th International Standards Olympiad

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is hosting the main competition of the 19th International Standards Olympiad on August 12 in Asan, Cheonan, with the participation of a total of 200 students and teachers from Korea and 10 other countries—China, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. Launched in 2006, the 19th International Standards Olympiad is organized by the Korean Standards Association (KSA) and sponsored by organizations including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The global event has drawn a record number of participating countries this year, with the addition of Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Forty teams that passed the preliminary rounds (20 middle school teams, 20 high school teams) are taking part in the main competition, with the number of teams from overseas (22) surpassing that of Korean teams (18) for the first time in competition history. Kicking off with an opening ceremony, the 19th International Standards Olympiad will proceed through August 12-14. Teams will compete against each other in assignments on international standard documents and presentations, followed by an awards ceremony and a closing ceremony. Results for each team are to be judged by ISO and IEC representatives and other standards experts. Participating students will also engage in various fun programs like standards related games and quiz shows, as well as cultural exchanges showcasing each country’s traditional dance.   date2024-08-12

MOTIE and MOJ to jointly launch pilot project for deploying foreign manpower in transmission line engineering

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), on August 12, announced the plan to create an occupation for transmission line electrical engineers, allowing the deployment of foreign workers with the E-7 visa* in domestic electrical power transmission line installation work to address current manpower shortage issues.  * E-7 (Particular Occupation) Visa: Eligible applicants for this working visa are people who have contracts with public or private Korean organizations to work in areas specially designated by the Minister of Justice. Professionally trained manpower for the installation of transmission lines is crucial for expanding Korea’s nuclear and renewable energy transport network, such as the establishment of semiconductor clusters and distribution of electric vehicles (EVs), to meet the rapidly rising demand for electrical power. However, securing new manpower for these tasks is challenging due to safety risks and poor working conditions. Accordingly, based on cooperation with relevant institutions like the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and industry opinions, MOTIE and MOJ have established a plan to operate a pilot project that allows the two-year deployment of up to 300 foreign workers with E-7 visas. Alongside the introduction of foreign workers, Korea’s electrical power industry also plans to expand vocational training for homegrown electrical engineers in transmission line installation and give preferential treatment to bidders with track records of domestic manpower training and employment. Moreover, the industry will promote the hiring of local youth as safety management workforce across transmission line construction sites. Throughout the pilot project period, MOTIE and MOJ intend to jointly monitor the process of foreign manpower selection and management, employment of homegrown talent, and implementation of measures for the prevention of illegal residence with aim to help stabilize the new system, while also protecting the employment of Korean nationals.   date2024-08-12