[THE INVESTOR]  South Korea’s current account balance in the transport sector hit US$1 billion in deficit this year up to July, according to the Bank of Korea on Sept 12.

South Korea made US$15.23 billion from transport activities in the January-July period, but payments in the sector amounted to US$16.24 billion, the central bank’s tally showed.

The deficit is the first for the measured period since the Bank of Korea began compiling the data in January 2006, and the largest in the deficit amount.

The transport index covers people and goods crossing borders by sea or air plus postal services and services provided in air.

The sector’s surplus had risen from US$2.2 billion in 2006 to US$4 billion in 2007 and US$7.6 billion in 2008 before falling to US$4.9 billion in the following year. It hit a high of US$10.2 billion in 2012, but last year, it ended at US$3 billion.

The slump in the shipping business was stark. While the air transport index for the January-July period marked a US$32 million surplus, the index in the shipping business ended US$894 million in red.

Passenger transport by sea fared better, recording US$200,000 in black, while the cargo service surplus stopped at US$3.2 billion, about half of what it was during the same period last year.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)