미중 무역분쟁 직격탄…韓 1분기 수출 감소폭 G20 중 최대<br /><br />The U.S. and China is hurting a lot of economies and their exports.<br />And among the hardest-hit... has been South Korea.<br />Our Ko Roon-hee reports. <br />With trade tensions threatening to boil over between the world's two economic superpowers, a new report shows South Korea's exports decreased the most among the world's major economies in the first three months of 2019.<br />According to the OECD's data on international merchandise trade, South Korea's exports plunged 7-point-1 percent during the January to March period...compared to the previous quarter. <br />This was the biggest decrease among all G20 countries,... an even sharper fall than the drops witnessed in Brazil and Russia.<br />South Korea relies heavily on exports to the U.S. and China...with many local companies shipping intermediary goods to them. <br />From January to May 25th, South Korea's outbound shipments to China accounted for more than 20-percent of the country's total exports.<br />The figure for the U.S. was more than 12-percent... so the two countries accounted for roughly a third of South Korea's total exports during the period.<br />And poor export figures are especially dangerous for such an export-reliant economy like South Korea.<br />In 2018, South Korea's exports accounted for a whopping 44-percent of the country's total GDP.<br />The outlook in the near future doesn't look particularly bright either.<br />Government data show the nation's exports tumbled 9-point-4 percent on-year in May.<br />Other than the impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute, sluggish semiconductor exports contributed to the slump.<br />South Korea's outbound shipments of chips plummeted more than 30-percent...mainly due to falling global chip prices and ongoing inventory adjustments at data centers around the world. <br />In a bid to turn things around, the South Korean government aims to devise measures related to the diversification in export products and destinations in the coming months.<br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News. <br />
