3분기 GDP 성장률 1.9%…상반기 역성장 딛고 반등<br /><br />Our top story this lunchtime,<br />South Korea has posted its economic data for the third quarter, and it shows the first quarterly GDP growth this year.<br />This comes despite the sudden resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past few months.<br />Eum Ji-young has the details.<br />Despite the surge in COVID-19 infections in the past couple of months, South Korea posted a first quarterly GDP growth of 2020.<br />The Bank of Korea said on Tuesday that the country's GDP in the third quarter grew by 1-point-9 percent compared to the previous quarter.<br />The South Korean economy had previously shrunk,... by 1-point-3 percent in the first quarter and by 3-point-2 percent in the second quarter.<br />The third quarter's growth could be from the base effect coming after the second quarter saw the lowest growth in over 11 years.<br />But the central bank said the country's exports contributed to the improved GDP figures.<br />"Although private consumption turned negative and there was a larger decrease in investment in construction, exports and investment in facilities increased sharply."<br />Exports, which are the key driver of the South Korean economy, rose by 15-point-6 percent on-quarter led by automobiles and semiconductors... mainly due to the economic recovery seen in major trading partners such as China.<br />Imports also increased by around 5 percent mainly on crude oil and chemical products.<br />But private consumption decreased by about 0-point-1 percent mainly on durable goods like clothes.<br />Investment in construction decreased by about 8 percent on-quarter.<br />Shortly after the central bank released the figures, finance minister Hong Nam-ki said he expects the economy to continue to pick-up in the following quarters.<br />He said that it is meaningful to see the recovery,... especially in exports, but added that the country might have seen even more growth if there hadn't been a resurgence of the virus in August.<br />Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.<br />
