On Sept. 4, the South Korean government hosted an emergency economic ministerial meeting, laying out expansive measures targeting export acceleration and economic revival amid global uncertainties. The strategy commits up to $137.2 billion (181 trillion won) for trade and export finance to be rolled out by year-end, bolstering support for export vouchers and international exhibitions. Moreover, regulatory easements are set for bonded factories serving SMEs, and a policy extension will allow small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) shippers in the Busan port an extended pre-arrival window for their export containers.

The government’s plans also center around diversifying its export portfolio, emphasizing emerging markets such as the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states. The government will also allocate about $190 million (250 billion won) to a special account in the Export-Import Bank to support orders from low-credit countries with high growth potential. However, the government also announced plans to hold the Korea-China Economic Ministers’ Meeting and the Korea-China Economic Cooperation Exchange between companies to strengthen economic cooperation with China, which the ROK labeled as its “main export partner.”