Choi Sang-mok "Annual Current Account Surplus Expected to Exceed Target"

6th Foreign Economic Ministers' Meeting

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok stated at the Foreign Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the 6th, “The annual current account surplus is expected to significantly exceed the initial forecast of $63 billion,” adding, “We will proactively respond to external uncertainties to ensure the continued strong performance of exports.”

Choe Sang-mok (right), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, and Song Eon-seok, Chairman of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, are sharing opinions at the "Supply Chain Stabilization Fund Launch Ceremony" held on the 5th at the Export-Import Bank in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the same day, Minister Choi evaluated the Korean economy as showing a trend of export-led economic recovery amid overall price stability. However, he noted that external uncertainties such as geopolitical risks and potential changes in foreign strategies following the U.S. presidential election could pose threats to the strong export momentum.

Minister Choi said, “The current account surplus in July ranked second highest in history,” and added, “Thanks to strong exports, facility investment has improved for two consecutive months, and household real income turned positive in the second quarter, indicating signs of gradual spillover into domestic demand.” He emphasized, “The government will proactively respond to external uncertainties to sustain the export-driven growth engine of our economy.”

Furthermore, he announced plans to reorganize the knowledge-sharing projects, which mark their 20th anniversary this year. The selection of demand-driven projects submitted by partner countries will be shifted to focus on the demands of Korean companies, and the system, which has been primarily based on sharing Korea’s development experience, will be transformed into a model that can jointly address global issues.

Minister Choi stated, “Through this, we will contribute to solving global challenges and actively support overseas orders and exports of our companies.” Additionally, the trade-linked economic cooperation initiated in 2017 will be revamped through business method reforms such as linking with economic cooperation strategies (FTA, EPA, etc.) to strengthen the momentum for pursuing win-win FTAs with emerging countries.

He continued, “Through the chairmanship activities of the Critical Minerals Security Partnership, which began in July this year, we will lead discussions on responding to supply instability of critical minerals,” and added, “We will demonstrate leadership to ensure early success in pilot projects for mining, processing, and recycling of critical minerals.” He also said, “On the 13th of this month, we will hold the first meeting of the IPEF as the chair country of the Supply Chain Crisis Response Network in Washington D.C., where we will also announce a roadmap containing the vision and implementation tasks.”

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