JEJU -- Korea’s exports may swing to the positive territory in August at the earliest, Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said Thursday.
Speaking at a forum in the southern island of Jeju, the minister said that exports are on track to return to year-on-year expansion, ending a long streak of contraction.
“The year-on-year growth of exports dipped to a negative 20 percent in January, but improved to a negative 2.7 percent in June,” the minister said.
Reasons behind the decline are both structural and cyclical, he went on, but a key may be found in key export items losing their competitiveness.
“In manufacturing, China has become a single, dominant force. In some sectors, they are not chasing us. They have already caught us up,” Joo said.
“That’s exactly why we need to change fast and lead in the upcoming era of the fourth industrial revolution.”
On concerns that China may take actions on the trade front to retaliate against Korea’s decision to deploy a U.S.-led missile defense system in spite of China’s opposition, the minister said there was no sign of such moves yet.
“Right now, we haven’t detected any change on trade, tourism or capital inflow,” he said.
China is Korea’s No. 1 export market, accounting for 26 percent of the country’s total outbound shipments last year and nearly half of all foreign visitors to Korea came from China.
By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)
