South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan unveils EU steel quota response and 800‑trillion‑won semiconductor plan

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the government will promptly issue an emergency plan to offset the European Union’s reduction of steel import quotas, which cut duty‑free volumes by about 46% and left South Korea with an allocated national quota of 2.073 million tons. Kim pledged to minimise corporate burden, boost cooperation between steel producers and downstream sectors such as shipbuilding, energy, defence and renewable‑energy, and generate more than 510 000 tons of domestic demand to support the industry’s transition to low‑carbon, high‑value products.

The minister also announced a major push to attract 800 trillion won of semiconductor investment to the newly designated Gwangju‑Jeollanam‑do integrated special city. Projects by SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and AMCO total about 896 trillion won and are expected to create 3 000 specialised workers and roughly 1.6 million jobs. The government will designate at least one “mega‑special zone,” provide full power and water supply, and eliminate regulatory hurdles to accelerate the build‑out of fabs, AI data centres and advanced packaging facilities.