The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 11th that the 'amendment to the organizational structure of the Trade Commission', which expands the committee from '4 divisions and 43 members' to '6 divisions and 59 members', is scheduled to take effect on the 18th.
The amendment was approved during the Cabinet meeting on the same day. This expansion of the Trade Commission is a follow-up action to the '2025 work plan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy'. A ministry official noted, 'This is aimed at protecting the domestic industry from the influx of low-priced products due to global oversupply and significantly strengthening the defense function of trade.'
This restructuring is assessed to be the largest scale since the establishment of the Trade Commission in 1987. The previous largest scale was '5 divisions and 52 members' in anticipation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) launch in January 1995.
The ministry explained that this reform is expected to respond promptly to the recent surge in investigations of unfair trade practices such as dumping and intellectual property rights infringement, and to enhance the quantitative and qualitative capabilities of trade remedy functions, including the advancement of dumping investigation techniques.
According to the ministry, the number of dumping investigation applications increased from 6 cases in 2021 to 6 cases in 2022, 8 cases in 2023, and 10 cases last year. The related domestic market size (average per case) surged from 150 billion won in 2021 to 280 billion won in 2022, 540 billion won in 2023, and 2.92 trillion won last year.
In examining the detailed organizational restructuring, the Trade Investigation Office, which is the secretariat of the Trade Commission, will establish the 'Dumping Investigation Support Division' and the 'Determination Support Division'. The existing 4 division system's workload and functions have been subdivided while increasing the workforce by a total of 16 personnel, including specialized investigation personnel.
To specialize investigations by item, the Dumping Investigation Division will focus on dumping investigations of steel, metal, and machinery products, which have seen a recent surge in demand, while the newly established Dumping Investigation Support Division will dedicate itself to new investigation demands such as dumping investigations of petrochemical, textile, wood, and renewable energy facility products, as well as circumvention dumping investigations.
Additionally, the Unfair Trade Investigation Division will focus on investigating and determining unfair trade practices such as patent infringement, and the newly established Determination Support Division will handle corrective measures such as stopping the import and export of goods infringing on patent rights after unfair trade determinations and administrative litigation responses.
A ministry official stated, 'In order to actively respond to the demand for highly specialized tasks following this organizational amendment, we aim to quickly recruit private experts with knowledge in international law, accounting, and patents within three months.' The official added, 'The Trade Commission will rigorously and promptly investigate unfair trade practices such as dumping and intellectual property infringement while actively protecting domestic industries from damage caused by dumping to create a fair trade environment.'