한경연 "보복대응시 양국 모두 손실…韓 GDP -3.1%, 日 -1.8%"<br /><br />Many economists agree that Japan's export restrictions will hurt both South Korea and Japan, though to different degrees.<br />And a projection from one research institute suggests... the export curbs might knock 2 or 3 percent off of Korea's GDP.<br />Our Ko Roon-hee explains.<br />Speaking Wednesday at a seminar on the impact of Japan's export restrictions, a senior research fellow from the Korea Economic Research Institute said they'll end up doing more harm than good to both economies.<br />Researcher Cho Gyeong-yeob said that if Korean companies suffer a 30-percent drop in semiconductor-related supplies,... South Korea's annual GDP would drop by around 2-point-2 percent.<br />The three materials affected by the export curbs are photoresists, fluorinated polyimides and hydrogen fluoride necessary to make semiconductors or displays.<br />Analysts have been saying the move will hurt Korea's economy, around one fifth of whos exports last year were chips.<br />And Cho forecasts that Japan's GDP would also edge down zero-point-zero-four percent.<br />But if Seoul were to retaliate by restricting exports on chips and chip components to Tokyo, things would likely get worse.<br />South Korea's GDP would slump at least by three percent, Cho estimates,... and Japan's by around 1-point-8 percent.<br />Cho points out that if Seoul does retaliate in a major way, it stands to lose more than Japan, which would replace Korean firms with suppliers in Japan or China.<br />To ease the tensions, analysts at the seminar recommended solving the problem diplomatically... rather than by economic attrition.<br />And such conversations between the two governments, they said, need to start as soon as possible.<br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.<br />
