Choo Kyung-ho: "Without a Semiconductor Rebound, Export Recovery Will Be Difficult for the Time Being"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho stated on the 2nd, "Without a rebound in the semiconductor market, it is inevitable that there will be constraints on export recovery for the time being, and the difficulties are significant."

On the morning of the same day, through an emergency economic ministers' meeting and export investment countermeasures meeting held at the Government Seoul Office, Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "Although the trade balance improved significantly compared to January last month, the energy import volume has not decreased, resulting in a deficit continuing for a year."

He added, "Looking at the January industrial activity trends announced today, there are positive movements such as a large rebound in the previously sluggish manufacturing industry, leading to a turnaround to positive growth in total industrial production for the first time in four months. However, with domestic demand indicators such as retail sales somewhat faltering and export sluggishness continuing, the uncertainty of the future economic outlook remains high."

Deputy Prime Minister Choo explained, "Despite the semiconductor downturn, the daily average exports in February improved slightly compared to January due to the strong performance of automobiles and secondary batteries. Following last year's export contract of FA-50 to Poland, the recent export contract with Malaysia at the end of last week is another piece of good news for K-defense. New promising export items such as bio, content, and agricultural products are also showing new potential."

In response, the government aims to strengthen competitiveness in key industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and electric vehicles by securing next-generation technological capabilities and fostering human resources. Additionally, tailored support will be strengthened for 12 new export engines including nuclear power, defense, bio, and content through project orders and market development.

Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Choo Kyung-ho is attending the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the 28th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

K-Content Targets Annual Exports of 25 Billion USD by 2027

Furthermore, follow-up plans for the export strategy of K-Content, announced at last month's export strategy meeting presided over by the President, were also revealed.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo explained, "The content industry is a core sector driving growth not only in related service industries such as media and tourism but also in manufacturing sectors like food and IT devices. Therefore, the government plans to intensively nurture the K-Content industry to achieve annual exports of 25 billion USD by 2027."

To this end, the government plans to add five more overseas business hubs for content in cities such as New York and London by the second half of this year, expanding from the current 10 locations. By 2027, the number will be increased to a total of 50 locations in connection with overseas cultural centers. In addition, the government will focus on supporting 1 trillion KRW in policy finance by next year, including the establishment of a K-Content export-specialized fund, and plans to establish strategic partnerships with global OTT platforms by the first half of this year.

Inbound Tourists Recover to 40% of Pre-COVID Levels

The government is promoting increased air routes and ferry operations between Korea and China, following the easing of quarantine measures for arrivals from China. This comes as the international tourism market is fully reopening due to the relaxation of entry restrictions by major countries and the restoration of international flights, with inbound tourists recovering to about 40% of pre-COVID-19 levels this year.

Last month, the government resumed issuing short-term visas for China, lifted restrictions on increasing flights from China, abolished mandatory PCR testing after entry, and removed the restriction on unified arrival airports (Incheon Airport). Preparations for the resumption of cruise operations after three years on the 13th include strengthening product development and marketing support.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo emphasized, "We have designated this year and next as the 'Year of Visit Korea' and will focus on hosting tourism events linked with Hallyu concerts. We will actively foster high value-added tourism industries such as medical tourism and marinas, and steadily promote projects to create complex marine leisure tourism cities by region."

Strengthening Response to K-Brand Counterfeit Products

To prevent damage from counterfeit products in advance, the government plans to provide alert services for industries and countries with high risks of counterfeiting. It will also promote technological development to facilitate easy identification between genuine and counterfeit products. This is due to the significant increase in damage caused by domestic trademark counterfeiting and imitation as the status of K-Brand has risen recently thanks to the Korean Wave.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "Since companies' intellectual property rights are the foundation of our export competitiveness, we will further strengthen policy responses to counterfeit products," adding, "We will greatly expand counterfeit product monitoring to over 100 countries worldwide and more than 1,600 commerce platforms, and increase package support such as surveys, crackdowns, and litigation for industries with frequent counterfeiting such as food and cosmetics."

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