The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Korea to come up with measures to boost exports

By Yonhap

Published : Jan. 30, 2019 - 14:14

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South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the government will come up with measures next month to boost exports amid concerns that overseas shipments would contract in January from a year earlier.

Hong Nam-ki said measures to revitalize exports have gained urgency as uncertainties have deepened over slowing global growth and trade frictions between the United States and China.


(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

Hong made the comments in a meeting with relevant officials on how to boost the economy at a government building in central Seoul.

South Korea's exports stood at $25.7 billion in the first 20 days of January, down a sharp 14.6 percent from a year earlier. The decline is blamed on a plunge in overseas shipments of semiconductors, a key export item of Asia's fourth-largest economy.

In December, South Korea's exports fell 1.2 percent on-year to $48.5 billion due to sluggish sales of autos and displays, while imports edged up 0.9 percent to $43.91 billion.

Exports are a significant part of the country's gross domestic product.

Also Wednesday, customs data showed that South Korea's exports of passenger cars declined in 2018 from a year earlier due to sluggish demand in the United States, Australia, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

South Korea shipped 2.47 million passenger cars worth $37.5 billion in 2018, compared with 2.54 million passenger cars worth $38.1 billion in 2017, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.

Among them, South Korean shipments of passenger vehicles to the U.S. fell 7 percent to $13.5 billion in 2018 from $14.6 billion a year earlier.

The U.S. is the largest market of South Korean passenger cars, accounting for 36.3 percent of South Korea's total exports of passenger cars in 2018. (Yonhap)