Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea and Germany to strengthen cooperation in advanced industries & carbon neutrality

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn met Udo Philipp, State Secretary for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, on October 30 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul to discuss bilateral cooperation measures in advanced industries and achieving carbon neutrality, and asked support for World Expo 2030 Busan. Noting the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Germany, Trade Minister Ahn assessed that Korea and Germany, through the free trade agreement, developed date2023-11-02

MOTIE launches Trade and Technology Security Forum

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn presided the first meeting of the Trade and Technology Security Forum, which was launched on October 31 at the Westin Josun Seoul and composed of 13 top experts of relevant academia and industries. As economic security issues are increasingly becoming more and more of a daily concern amid the rising geo-economic risks and supply chain uncertainties, there is a growing need to seek out a strategy for assessing the external and internal situation and minimizing trad date2023-11-02

Korea's exports grow 5.1% in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 1 that Korea’s export value for the month of October grew 5.1 percent year-on-year to USD 55.1 billion, a first in 13 months. Imports shrank 9.7 percent to $53.5 billion, and the trade balance stood at a surplus of $1.6 billion, posting growth for the fifth consecutive month since June this year. The daily average export value ($2.6 billion) for October, considering the number of operating days, again broke the previ date2023-11-02

Rare earth permanent magnets for EV motors to be home grown

  Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Youngjin Jang attended the completion ceremony of Sunglim Advanced Industrial’s Hyunpoong Plant on October 27. The plant will pioneer the first-ever domestic production of neodymium-based rare earth permanent magnets. The Hyunpoong Plant will be producing approximately 1,000 metric tons of rare earth permanent magnets on an annual basis (sufficient for app. 500,000 electric vehicles), which is expected to reduce reliance on other countries date2023-11-01

Korea and Chile solidify cooperation in hydrogen, renewable energy & critical minerals

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Bang Moon Kyu visited Chile from October 29-November 1 as a Special Presidential Envoy to strengthen economic cooperation with Latin American nations in view of their recently rising strategic importance in terms of critical minerals supply chain and other issues. The visit was accompanied by an economic delegation composed of 39 representatives of public and private organizations and companies, including Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOT date2023-11-01

Korea's retail industry advances 9.5% in September

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on October 30 that Korea’s retail sales for September gained an overall growth of 9.5 percent year-on-year. Offline sales increased by 7.2 percent, as the Chuseok holidays boosted demand across all retail channels, with hypermarkets (up 10.0 percent) and “super supermarket (SSM)” operators (up 11.3 percent) at the helm. Online sales leaped 12.0 percent, with sales of food products (up 32.0 percent) growing on the ba date2023-11-01

Korea Eureka Day 2023 launched in Seoul

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on October 30 that the Korea Eureka Day 2023 is held through October 30-November 1 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul with the participation of approximately 100 persons from 12 countries, namely the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, Turkey, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland. Eureka is the largest global research and development (R&D) platform, in which a total of 47 countries (41 European, six non-European date2023-10-31

MOTIE discusses Korean companies' energy cooperation with Malaysia's Petronas

Deputy Minister for Energy Policy Lee Ho-hyeon met Petronas COO Adnan Zainal Abidin on October 27 in Seoul to discuss measures for cooperation in LNG, hydrogen, CCS (carbon capture and storage) and other energy areas. Petronas is Malaysia’s state-owned energy company currently engaging in a number of joint projects with Korean firms. The above talks came to be held on the occasion of COO Abidin’s visit to Korea seeking potential business partners. On LNG, Deputy Minister Lee highli date2023-10-31