S. Korea revises down trade surplus for Nov.

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade surplus for November was revised
down as exports to major trading partners shrank at a record pace amid the global
economic recession, a government report showed Wednesday.
According to revised data by the Korea Customs Service (KCS), South Korea inked a
trade surplus of US$138 million in November, down from an earlier estimate of
$297 million.
Exports fell 19 percent from a year earlier to $29.02 billion last month, while
imports also dropped 14.9 percent to $28.88 billion over the cited period, the
customs office said.
Outbound shipment to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, nose-dived
32.9 percent on-year last month to $5.33 billion, the steepest fall since 1992.
South Korean exports to the EU, its second-biggest overseas market, also sank by
20.5 percent to $4.24 billion over the cited period, and U.S.-bound shipments
plunged 14.1 percent to $3.5 billion, the KCS said.
The data comes on the heels of Friday's forecast by the central bank that
predicted Asia's fourth-largest economy will grow by 2 percent in 2009 -- its
slowest pace in 11 years -- as the historic global recession cuts both domestic
consumption and exports, the nation's main growth engine.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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