6월 수출 442억달러로 13.5% 급감…7개월째 ‘마이너스’

Data show South Korea's exports declined in June for a seventh month in a row.
Korea was again caught in the trade war between the U.S. and China, and the falling prices of semiconductors.
Kim Da-mi has the details.
The outlook is gloomy for South Korea's exports,... with the latest data showing outbound shipments have fallen... for the seventh consecutive month in June.
"South Korea's total exports were around 44-point-two billion U.S. dollars last month. Imports also fell by more than 8 percent on-year... to around 40 billion dollars."
That is down more than 13-percent compared to the same period last year... and is the largest on-year drop in the past three years and five months.... since a 19-point-6 percent fall in January 2016.
The ministry attributed June's fall in exports to the worsening trade dispute between the U.S. and China as well as falling semiconductor prices.
"It's a relief that the U.S. and China agreed last week to resume their trade talks, but that doesn't mean Korea's exports will turn around right away. Instead, Korea needs to increase its competitiveness in exports by developing its own advanced technologies."
Automobile and shipbuilding exports rose, but outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemical goods fell sharply... by around 25 percent and 24 percent respectively.
As of the end of June, prices of semiconductors had dropped by 33 percent compared to the previous year.
Exports to China, Korea's number one trading partner, went down by 24 percent,... the biggest on-year decline in 10 years.
"To cope with the sluggish exports, the government aims to boost trade finance to one hundred and two billion dollars in the second part of the year,... pouring in around 60 billion dollars in the third quarter. And to help diversify the country's exports, the government will announce export innovation measures in July.
Kim Da-mi, Arirang News."