Kang Kyung-sung, KOTRA President: "North America Headquarters Relocates to Washington D.C.... In Response to Trump's Second Term"

Kang Kyung-sung, President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), met with reporters in Las Vegas, USA, where the world's largest electronics and information technology (IT) exhibition 'CES 2025' is being held, and stated, "At the board meeting at the end of last year, it was decided to relocate the North America Regional Headquarters to Washington D.C. through an organizational restructuring," adding, "This is to firmly respond to and monitor changes in the U.S. trade environment following the inauguration of the new administration."

Kang Kyung-sung, President of KOTRA, is answering questions from the press at a press conference held on the 8th (local time) in Las Vegas, USA. Photo by KOTRA

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KOTRA's North America Regional Headquarters is currently located in New York. Accordingly, the New York Trade Center chief also served as the head of the North America Regional Headquarters. However, with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump approaching and the trade environment expected to change rapidly, it was deemed better to relocate to Washington D.C., the capital of the United States.

President Kang emphasized, "KOTRA is also preparing alongside the government for the launch of the second Trump administration," and said, "The second-term trade policy is similar yet different from the first term. We expect various measures such as circumvention exports in terms of tariff and non-tariff barriers, which are continuously being announced." He added, "We need to anticipate and prepare for how these will affect our country."

KOTRA plans to soon activate an emergency trade export task force across the organization in line with the launch of the Trump administration. President Kang said, "After returning from the CES 2025 business trip, I intend to immediately preside over the first meeting," and added, "Through the emergency task force, we hope to serve as a control tower for changes in the trade environment." He also stated, "We will ensure that KOTRA trade centers respond with a more resolute determination and strictness not only in the U.S. but also in other market development areas."

President Kang also said, "This year’s export and investment environment is extremely difficult. I think it is the most challenging ever." He continued, "I understand that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced its work plan the day before yesterday, highlighting the difficulty in responding to the industrial and trade environment as well as the investment environment as the first and second priorities," and explained, "Ultimately, when the U.S. market is unstable, our first alternative is the Southeast Asian market, which has high potential, and the second alternatives are the Middle East, South America, and Africa."

KOTRA also revealed plans to continue increasing the number of Korean companies participating in CES. Among the 4,300 companies participating in CES 2025, a total of 1,010 were Korean companies, accounting for 23.8% of all participants, ranking third after the U.S. and China. President Kang emphasized, "Excluding China, it is fair to say that CES is led by the U.S. and Korea," and added, "Comparing the economic scale, population, and number of companies of the U.S. and China, you can see how passionate our companies are about innovating and confirming technology trends through CES."

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