The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on April 4 that it would invest 675 billion won (US$515 million) for the next five years so that the number of globally competitive small companies can reach 150 in the nuclear power industry.“The budget investment until 2027 includes 150 billion won [US$1
The popularity of inexpensive cars is rising in South Korea. For instance, KG Mobility sold 6,601 units of the Torres SUV last month, up 19.8 percent from the previous month. Thanks to the SUV, the company sold a total of 8,862 cars last month, setting a new sales record in 28 months. The price of t
The idea of turning the G7 into the G8 by including South Korea is emerging. The presidents of the United States and South Korea are expected to discuss the matter at their summit scheduled for April 26.The Federation of Korean Industries and the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies c
The Korea Center for International Finance said in its report on April 3 that South Korea’s response needs to be more precise amid the ongoing U.S.-China rivalry in high-tech industries.The United States is continuing to curb China using the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, the Indo-Pacific E
The United Kingdom is expected to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on March 31. With China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and other countries expected to join it, the members are trying to determine how to negotiate with China and Taiwan.The 11 members
The semiconductor industry and business community welcome the so-called K-Chips Act, which was passed by the National Assembly plenary session on March 30.According to the amendment to the Act on Restriction of Special Taxation, the tax deduction rate for capital investment in national strategic ind
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited China to attend the Boao Forum, which is sometimes called the Asian version of the Davos Forum.According to industry sources on March 28, Chairman Chey will participate in the Boao Forum held in Boao, Hainan Province of China for four days from March 28 to 31.
The top six South Korean defense companies’ order backlog topped 82 trillion won (US$63 billion) in December last year. It increased 48 percent in 2022 alone with the war in Ukraine still going on.Last year, the order backlog of Hanwha Group subsidiaries in the industry more than doubled to 25.5 tri
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is about to release detailed rules of the Inflation Reduction Act. Attention is focusing on EV and EV-battery-related incentive criteria.According to the act, a tax credit of US$3,750 is provided for an EV battery with a ratio of components manufactured in North A
The Korea International Trade Association said on March 28 that South Korea’s trade deficit with China totaled US$5.0731 billion in January and February this year.Five years ago, South Korea recorded its largest trade surplus with none other than China. However, its trade surplus with China dropped
The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade said in its report on March 27 that the global defense and arms procurement budgets are estimated to increase by US$2 trillion and US$600 billion from 2023 to 2032, respectively.“Another arms race is ongoing across the world after the outbreak o
HiteJinro announced on March 27 that its soju exports hit an all-time high of US$120 million last year with a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent.The company initiated its soju globalization in 2016 and its soju exports have increased since then. For the last five years, the exports showed an aver
As a gateway to Korea, Incheon is a city open to the world as it boasts both Incheon Port and Incheon International Airport. It is growing into a world-class city with a population of 3 million, including wide plains and mountains, the sea, and numerous islands large and small. Business Korea conduc
The first two million barrels of crude oil from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the UAE have arrived at Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC)’s Yeosu storage facility.The two million barrels of ADNOC crude oil, which arrived on March 21, were brought into the country under the KNOC-ADN
Hanwha Group and Poland are expected to expand their cooperation beyond military-related matters to the naval ship and space sectors.Hanwha officials explained the current status and a plan for defense cooperation between the two countries such as the K9 Self-propelled Howitzer and the Cheonmu Multi
The United States and the European Union are strengthening their economic security by curbing China. According to experts, China is likely to counter with its rare-earth elements (REEs).According to the United States Geological Survey, China accounted for 60 percent of the global total REE productio
The South Korean government is planning to inspect every port crane supplied by China. This is because the U.S. government recently pointed out that cranes built by Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) may be used for espionage purposes. At present, a total of 478 Chinese port cranes are i
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on March 16 that South Korea and the UAE had a business roundtable in the UAE and US$2 billion worth of a contract and MOUs were signed there.Specifically, the contract pertains to national defense and the five MOUs are related to information and
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met on March 16. After the summit, the Japanese government announced it would lift its export ban against South Korea and the South Korean government announced it would terminate its WTO litigation related to the ban.The
The Korea Enterprises Federation announced on March 16 that South Korea came in 15th out of 184 countries in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom but it recorded a very low score in the category of freedom in the labor market.South Korea’s latest overall score in the annual index is 7