Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

Minister Moon holds talks with OECD Secretary-General

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook held talks with OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann on February 9 at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, and discussed measures for strengthening Korea-OECD relations in addition to other general issues, including supply chain, digital transition, and climate change response. The Secretary-General visited Seoul to attend a ministerial meeting with Southeast Asian nations.   date2022-02-10

Energy Vice Minister holds 12th Energy & Resources Management TF Meeting

Energy Vice Minister Park Ki-young presided the 12th Energy & Resources Supply-Demand Management TF Meeting on February 9 at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure) in Seoul.  The meeting was convened for the purpose of inspecting domestic and external supply-demand and price trends ensuing increasing oil prices and Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Minister delivered an opening message, after which discussions followed with regard to global oil market issues and oil supply emergency date2022-02-10

Minister Moon attends Global Value Chain (GVC) inauguration ceremony

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook attended the Global Value Chain (GVC) Analysis Center inauguration ceremony on February 9 at COEX in Seoul, to support the stable operations of supply chains for domestic companies. Noting Korea’s robust exports despite the recent energy price surge, the Minister assured that efforts will go forth toward mitigating supply chain risks for enterprises with GVC playing a center role in the process. He added that “through a revision of date2022-02-10

Minister Moon presides 9th Defense Industry Development Conference

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook presided the 9th Defense Industry Development Conference held on February 7 at the Government Sejong Convention Center under the theme of expanding Korea’s domestic helicopter market and supporting exports and overseas market penetration.   In his opening message, the Minister emphasized the need to “strengthen civil militia cooperation in space technology and other cutting-edge developments” and called for efforts to r date2022-02-08

Minister Moon attends military “robot chef” demonstration

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook visited the Army's 28th Recruit Training Regiment on February 7 where “robot chefs” are currently employed in an effort to improve the working conditions of military cooks.   Noting the success of this pilot introduction, Minister Moon stated that this was an important milestone for robotics technology to contribute to a smarter and safer military program. He added that collaboration with the Ministry of National Def date2022-02-08

RCEP takes effect for Korea as of February 1

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook announced that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) takes effect as of February 1 in Korea. This is in accordance with Agreement provisions on going into force 60 days after parliamentary approval submission to the Secretariat. The culmination of 8-year negotiations involving a total of 15 countries, this trade deal is easily the world’s largest FTA, covering approximately 30 percent of the world in terms of date2022-02-03

Trade Minister holds talks with U.S. representatives on bilateral trade and cooperation

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held multiple talks with various counterparts during his visit to the U.S. (Jan 25-Feb 2). Meetings were held mostly in Washington, D.C. and New York.   Korea-U.S. discussions centered around the revision of Section 232 steel export tariff rules, expanding onto talks on broadening the Asia-Pacific cooperation regarding supply chain, digital transition, technology, and trade relations. The two countries’ Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) approaches its 10th anni date2022-02-03

Korea's exports achieve $55.3 billion in January

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on February 1 that Korea’s exports in January rose 15.2 percent year-on-year to USD 55.3 billion. Imports also grew 35.5 percent to $60.2 billion. The trade balance turned negative to $4.9 billion from greater imports, produced by the steeper slope in energy price hikes. Monthly exports surpassed the $50 billion mark for the first time for January and posted double-digit growth despite the spread of Omicron, inflation concerns, and supp date2022-02-01

Minister Moon visits marketplace ahead of Lunar New Year

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Moon Sung-wook visited the Yongmun Traditional Market located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on January 28 to inspect market prices and energy safety conditions ahead of Korea's Lunar New Year holidays. Under the guidance of the Merchants Association President Ban Jae Sun, Minister Moon purchased fruit, traditional Korean sweets, and other holiday goods using an onnuri gift certificate. In view of the COVID-19 situation, the purchased goods were then donated to Chung date2022-01-28

Trade Minister holds Korea-U.S. trade talks

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held talks with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai at the USTR Office in Washington D.C. on January 27 over trade and other major issues. The two countries’ trade representatives’ discussions centered around the revision of Section 232 rules on steel and aluminum products, the Indo-Pacific economic framework, supply chain resilience, WTO reform, and measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation in commemoration of the 10th Anniversary o date2022-01-28