South Korea's finance ministry has released its monthly assessment of local economic conditions.
Its report for January says consumption figures look solid, but concerns over domestic and external uncertainties remain.
Ko Roonhee reports.

South Korea's exports and consumption remain solid,... but uncertainties over the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and the semiconductor sector persist.
This is according to South Korea's finance ministry's monthly greenbook report released on Friday.
From December 2017 to September 2018, the ministry had said the local economy was on a 'recovery' path.
However, it has not used that term for four straight months now.

The latest report specifically pinpointed uncertainties in the semiconductor sector.
Separate data released by the Korea Customs Service show semiconductor exports dropped almost 30-percent during the first ten days of January...compared to the same period last year.
Analysts point to falling semiconductor prices.
There's also lower demand, because many data centers around the world have been postponing their purchases of semiconductors.
These centers refer to centralized locations where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for storing or processing large amounts of data.

The report showed exports went down one-point-two percent in December on-year... because shipments of home appliances dropped.
Facilities investment tumbled by more than five percent in November compared to the previous month,... due to a decrease in machineries investment.
Overall industrial production also decreased by zero-point-seven percent during the same period...mainly in the manufacturing sector.
On a brighter note, retail sales increased half-a-percent in November.
The ministry said it will monitor domestic and external risks... and push forward with policies related to innovative growth to further vitalize the local economy.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.