Imports into South Korea are increasing. While its volume reached EUR 569 billion in 2021, it will reach EUR 676 billion in 2022, an increase of 18.9%. The main imported products in 2021 included oil and gas, computer technology and pharmaceuticals. By commodity, imports were divided into semi-finished goods worth €289 billion, commodities worth €118 billion, capital goods worth €84 billion, consumer goods worth €75 billion and other goods worth €3 billion. The Korea Importers Association (also known by its acronym KOIMA) is the main Korean association bringing together local importers in all sectors of the local market. Its members see potential in the biotechnology, healthcare and green economy sectors in particular. Korea's diversification of the countries it imports from is growing in importance due to uncertainty in global supply chains. KOIMA members consider the main challenges for foreign importers to enter Korea to be strict hygiene and health standards, protectionist measures for some key sectors such as agricultural products, language barriers and limited amount of freely available information on the internet, and last but not least the lengthy import process from finding the right distributor to signing the final contract.

Led by Ambassador Ivan Jančárek, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in South Korea held a meeting with representatives of the main Korean association of local importers - Korea Importers Association - at the end of January. The Ambassador presented the Czech Republic to its chairman Kim Byung Kwan as an attractive partner with a wide export potential ranging from optical equipment to food.  Both partners agreed that there is a great potential between the two countries, which should be exploited and mutual exchange should be further increased. The key to this can be, for example, holding regular networking webinars, participation in the KIF import fair in Seoul or incoming missions of Korean importers to the Czech Republic. Representatives of a wide range of Korean import companies - from engineering to household equipment - also participated in the meeting. The subsequent presentation, which was made for them by the Embassy's trade section together with the CzechTrade agency, was addressed to them. "The Czech Republic's trade balance with Korea has been passive for a long time, which is a pity, because Czech producers definitely have something to offer here. I believe that thanks to such B2B initiatives of our office, the trend will gradually improve and more of our products will reach local consumers," said Ambassador Jančárek after the meeting.

Further important information on importing into Korea can be obtained from the links below:
1. Korea Importers Association : https://eng.koima.or.kr/koima_net/index.do#none
2. Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency: https://www.kotra.or.kr/english/index.do
3. Korea International Trade Association: https://kita.org/

If interested, Czech companies can contact the Commercial Department of the Czech Embassy in Seoul at seoul.commerce@mzv.gov.cz and the CzechTrade agency at michal.stroka@czechtrade.cz.

Jakub Kopecký, economic expert in Embassy of Czechia in Seoul