Acting Minister Kim Beomseok Warns of Concerns Over Export Sector Employment Slump Affecting Related Industries and Small Businesses

Kim Beomseok, Acting Minister and First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is speaking at the Economic Ministers' Meeting and the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 14th. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Beomseok, Acting Minister and First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated on the 14th, "There are concerns that sluggish employment in the export sector, caused by changes in the global trade environment, may eventually affect related industries and small business owners with a time lag."

At the Economic Ministers' Meeting and the Industrial Relations Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the same day, Acting Minister Kim said, "Employment in the manufacturing sector continues to deteriorate, facing the dual challenges of delayed domestic demand recovery and external uncertainties," explaining the current situation.

Regarding the tariff agreement between the United States and China, Acting Minister Kim assessed, "The level of uncertainty in the global trade environment remains high." He added, "While we will make thorough preparations for trade negotiations with the United States, we will also strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners who are facing significant difficulties due to tariff impacts and sluggish domestic demand."

For other advanced industries such as secondary batteries and artificial intelligence (AI), Acting Minister Kim emphasized, "We will steadily build an industrial ecosystem that can secure competitiveness."

He further stressed, "We will remain vigilant until the end to ensure that our economy can safely pass through this tunnel of uncertainty."

Meanwhile, Acting Minister Kim announced that, to address companies' difficulties related to tariffs, a one-on-one coordinator system will be introduced for affected companies, and an export voucher service will be developed. He also mentioned plans to promote battery recycling and to secure high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) quickly in order to support the growth of the secondary battery and electric vehicle industries.

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