South Korea's trade deficit with Japan is forecast to fall to a 16-year low this year.
Seoul's trade ministry says that, in the first ten months of 2019, South Korea posted a trade deficit of 16-point-four billion U.S. dollars, down more than 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
Given the current trend, the deficit is expected to fall below 20 billion dollars, the lowest level since 2003.
The sharp fall comes as imports fell much faster than exports.
Japanese imports like semiconductor related parts and equipment as well as consumer goods like cars and beer all dropped.