Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

Korea and Malaysia discuss energy cooperation in LNG, hydrogen, and CCS

The Republic of Korea’s Deputy Minister for Energy Policy Lee Ho-hyeon met with Petronas’ Gas and Maritime Business CEO Datuk Adif Zulkifli today in Seoul to discuss measures for energy cooperation. A Malaysian state-owned energy giant, Petronas is currently engaged in joint projects with Korean firms across diverse areas including liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Today’s talks were held on the occasion of Petronas executives’ business trip to Korea. Sharing the view that stable securing of resources is crucial amid intensifying global energy supply chain uncertainties, both sides agreed to actively cooperate to this end. In addition to the LNG supply contract between Petronas and Korean firms like Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), Deputy Minister Lee remarked that the two countries are also taking part in an overseas gas field project and expressed anticipation for continued LNG cooperation going forward. Moreover, he asked for interest and support towards the green hydrogen and ammonia project presently ongoing in Sarawak with the participation of Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and Samsung E&A. Lastly, the deputy minister noted the Shepherd CCS Project in progress between Korean firms and Petronas for transporting carbon dioxide from Korea to Malaysia for storage and requested Petronas’ strong support for the collaboration, noting their governments’ ongoing discussions on prospects of entering a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) to assist cooperation in CCS areas.   date2024-10-25

Trade Minister Cheong attends G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong of the Republic of Korea attended the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting on October 24 in Brasília, Brazil, where he highlighted the importance of a WTO-centered multilateral trade system and asked members’ support and interest towards the reform of the WTO dispute settlement system. date2024-10-25

Minister Ahn meets Kazakhstan’s Minister for Energy

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea met Kazakhstan’s Minister for Energy Almasadam Sätqaliev on October 22 at the Government Complex Sejong for talks on boosting bilateral energy cooperation outcomes and follow-up measures. date2024-10-24

Korea and Algeria discuss wider economic cooperation

The Republic of Korea’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn met Algeria's National People's Assembly (APN) President Brahim Boughali on October 23 in Seoul to discuss measures for wider economic cooperation between the two countries. date2024-10-24

Trade Minister meets Brazil's Vice Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong of the Republic of Korea held bilateral talks with Brazil's Vice Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services Márcio Rosa on October 23 in Brazil on measures for wider bilateral cooperation on the margins of the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting. date2024-10-24

Toray Industries’ advanced materials production plant groundbreaking ceremony

Korea's Director-General for Cross-Border Investment Policy Peob-min Ryu attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Japanese company Toray Industries’ advanced materials production plant on October 23 in Gumi City, North Gyeongsang Province. The ceremony was attended by representatives of related companies, government officials, and institutions including the North Gyeongsang Province Governor and Toray Industries Chairman Akihiro Nikkaku. date2024-10-24

Trade Minister Cheong discusses sustainable development of global trade and investment at G20 Trade Ministerial

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong of the Republic of Korea is attending the G20 Trade Ministerial on October 24 in Brasília, Brazil, as Chief Delegate of the Korean government. Under the slogan “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet,” trade ministers engage in discussions on four agenda items: World Trade Organization (WTO) reform and a stronger multilateral trade system; global trade and women; trade and sustainable development; and investment treaties and sustainable development. During the first session, Trade Minister Cheong highlights the importance of the WTO-centered multilateral trade system, calling for members’ interest and support towards reforming the WTO dispute settlement system. Introducing Korea’s policy efforts such as the global acceleration program for empowering female entrepreneurs and promoting their wider global trade participation, he emphasizes the importance of inclusive economic growth. In the second session, he underscores the need to balance trade and sustainable development and urged the G20 members’ support for the Carbon Free Energy (CFE) Initiative led by Korea. Furthermore, he maintains that the WTO’s Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement will contribute to the sustainable development of developing countries, for which he stresses the need for its swift legal incorporation into the WTO structure. The trade chief will also have bilateral talks with counterparts of other G20 members to discuss pending trade issues. On October 25, he takes part in the B20 Trade Ministerial in São Paolo where he introduces Korea’s trade policy directions and preparations for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025. On the margins of his visit, he plans to meet with Korean businesses operating in Brazil and seek to resolve business challenges.   date2024-10-24

Minister Ahn attends Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 opening ceremony

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn attended Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 opening ceremony on October 23 at KINTEX in Ilsan, with the nationwide export promotion event now entering its second week. Minister Ahn gave an opening address and attended the MOU signing ceremony among KOTRA, COEX, KINTEX, BEXCO, KITA, and Korea Tourism Organization for nurturing global event launches integrating industry and culture programs, then toured the major exhibition booths. The ceremony was attended by representatives of related institutions including KOTRA, KITA, and KINTEX. date2024-10-24

RobotWorld 2024 showcases latest eye-catching robot technologies

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is launching RobotWorld 2024 from October 23–26 at KINTEX in Ilsan, organized by related institutions like the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA) and the Korea Association of Robot Industry (KARI).  This year’s RobotWorld drew a record high participation of 291 companies and institutions displaying the latest robot technologies at 880 booths, held in conjunction with Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 to host trade shows, overseas market strategy seminars, and other export assistance programs.  At the center of attention are robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) as AI is expanding the scope of tasks robots can perform, introducing a variety of different robots such as humanoids, delivery robots, and guide robots. Upon a spoken request, Korean company AeiROBOT’s humanoid hands the person a candy of requested color using AI-based voice and object recognition, showing prospects for utilization in manufacturing and service sectors. ROBOTIS’ indoor delivery robot is able to maneuver through elevators and security doors with its AI vision and robot arms, exhibiting an increased range of autonomous movement. INTEGRIT’s large language model (LLM)-powered robot helps customers with hotel checkouts. A number of technologies are also showcased by companies that succeeded in localizing key robot parts. Tesollo’s robot grippers rely on AI vision to adjust their position and shape to grip objects. SPG displayed its localized robot reducer that can be applied to various different robots like industrial robots and humanoids. Early this year, MOTIE announced plans to support these endeavors with the aim of raising five key robot parts’ localization rate up to 80 percent by 2030. Based on the view that robots are the future growth engine for the next-generation, MOTIE intends to push several policies to help nurture the robot industry, including an anchor project for AI autonomous manufacturing, the “Humanoid Initiative,” and overhauling of AI robot laws.   date2024-10-24

Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 in full swing, enters 2nd week with trade show securing $235 mln in export deals

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a trade show on an unprecedented scale for Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 (“Boom-Up”) through October 22–23 at KINTEX in Ilsan, with the nationwide export promotion event now entering its second week. Launched over a period of two weeks from October 16–31, this year’s Boom-Up integrates 20 industrial exhibitions nationwide in conjunction with trade shows and introduces the new “Boom-Up Week” format for the first time through collaboration with Korea’s four major exhibition venues and key industry associations. Global buyers coming to Korea from around the world are provided catered services in terms of information and transportation. For this historic Boom-Up, KOTRA’s Korea Business Centers (KBCs) served as promotion channels for drawing 1,200 overseas buyers from 62 countries, including GM, Panasonic, and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as 3,000 promising export companies and roughly 200,000 visitors. Exhibition booths for future mobility, nuclear power, bio, and other advanced industries took up center stage, showcasing high-performance hydrogen-electric hybrid concept cars (Hyundai Motor), world’s first commercial wireless communications and information systems for nuclear reactors (Ilshin EDI), and Korea’s first card payment platform for trade settlements (VISA).  In addition, visitors were able to experience a medical tourism promotion booth, free-trade zone (FTZ) business booth, and a one-stop export booth for bid participation assistance. MOTIE Minister Dukgeun Ahn visited the trade show booths to encourage export consultations and toured the local tourism program lounge introducing tours around Korea. The Boom-Up saw the inking of USD 235 million worth of export deals and memorandums of understanding (MOUs), the total outcome expected to reach $300 million considering additional contracts. In light of the recent global popularity of Korean culture, the Boom-Up is accommodating international visitors via diverse bleisure (blend of business and leisure) programs with tourist vouchers for lodging, local tours, and K-pop performances. Meanwhile, an MOU was signed among KINTEX, COEX, EXCO, BEXCO, KOTRA, Korea International Trade Association (KITA), and Korea Tourism Organization with an aim to nurture Korea’s exhibition industry for launching global-scale exhibitions like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or Mobile World Congress (MWC), as Korea is soon expected to rank among the world’s top five exporting countries. The Korean government will start the process of selecting applicants for this project at the end of 2024 to gear up efforts to activate a comprehensive support system for exhibition planning and consulting, attracting startups and buyers, launching sidelines events, and integrating tourism programs in step with global trends beginning next year.   date2024-10-23