President's Office Raises Export Target Higher Than KDI... "Expecting Conditions to Improve"

K-Content Fostered as Korea's Main Export Industry
Financial Support to Alleviate Funding Difficulties in Content Industry
Yoon Orders Establishment of Pan-Government Export Response System

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Suk-yeol presented a 'Export Plus' vision on the 23rd, aiming to achieve this year's export target of $685 billion, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to last year. The Presidential Office and the government plan to expand the K-Content industry sector and pioneer new markets to achieve this goal.

Choi Sang-mok, Chief Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Presidential Office, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and stated, "It is true that we expect conditions to not worsen and even improve slightly compared to the time we forecasted."

The target amount presented by President Yoon exceeds the export forecasts for this year made by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) at $650 billion, the Korea International Trade Association's International Trade and Commerce Research Institute at $660 billion, and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade at $670 billion.

Chief Secretary Choi emphasized, "As the President highlighted, the recent export environment is at a point where the free trade system has peaked, and each country is making efforts such as diversifying supply chains to foster a better environment."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

To expand K-Content, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to nurture it as Korea's main export industry. By next year, they will establish 1 trillion won in policy financing and significantly increase overseas bases to strengthen the export foundation of K-Content.

The number of overseas content bases will increase from the current 10 to 15, and new financial packages such as the K-Content Fund, completion guarantees, and interest support will be introduced to resolve funding shortages in the content industry. Additionally, the 'Korea Premium' export strategy linking agricultural products, beauty, fashion sectors with K-Content will be reinforced.

Chief Secretary Choi said, "We will actively support K-Content to serve as a vanguard that not only represents the content industry itself but also promotes Korea's brand and culture globally."

The government plans to focus on new markets such as North America, Europe, and the Middle East, as K-Content exports are currently concentrated in China and Japan.

Earlier, in his remarks at the Export Strategy Meeting, President Yoon said, "If exports slow down and trade deficits persist, our country, which is highly dependent on the external economy, will face great difficulties," and added, "The only way to overcome the complex crisis including high interest rates is through exports and revitalizing startups," instructing the establishment of an all-government export response system.

President Yoon also ordered each ministry to set export targets and to monitor and manage implementation through 'Export and Investment Officers (Grade 1)'.

The government reported on the same day the following: ▲ 2023 export conditions and all-government export expansion strategy (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy), ▲ export expansion strategies for agricultural products and marine fisheries sectors (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries), and ▲ K-Content export strategy (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), according to the Presidential Office.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, regarding the remarks made by Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Do-woon at a briefing the previous day explaining the Cabinet meeting discussions, where he said, "One attendee mentioned that Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, considered building a Gigafactory in Korea but gave up due to labor union issues," when reporters asked about the identity of the person who made the statement and the actual cancellation, Chief Secretary Choi responded that the rumor about the failure to attract Tesla's electric vehicle production base Gigafactory to Korea is "not yet a decided matter."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.