Made in Korea
SEJONG, March 6 (Yonhap) – South Korea plans to revise its labeling system on country of origin to include products that are processed or assembled here in an effort to promote transit trade, the government said Thursday.
Currently, only products wholly produced here are marked “Made in Korea” or “Product of Korea” and counted as exports when shipped abroad.
Under the proposed revision to the labeling system, likely to go into effect in the second half of the year, products that were processed or assembled here will also be counted as products of Korea as long as the value added to such products here exceeds 50 percent of their final price, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Such products will be marked as “Assembled in Korea” or “Processed in Korea.”
“The revision to the regulation on the system of country of origin will help expand the brand value of Korea,” a ministry official said.
Minister Yoon Sang-jick earlier called for efforts to promote transit or intermediary trade, under which the country would produce and export high-value added products made with parts and materials imported from third-party countries.
“Because our own companies are moving their production facilities abroad, developing new export items with high added value will be a major task for us,” the minister said while meeting with reporters here on Monday.
Ministry officials said the products labeled as assembled or processed in Korea will have little impact on exports to advanced economies that often enforce a very strict definition of country of origin.
However, they will help significantly expand the market in developing economies where South Korean products already enjoy wide popularity, they said.