S. Korea`s trade deficit with Japan exceeds $30 billion

SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade deficit with Japan has exceeded US$30 billion this year for the first time ever as a weakening local currency raised overall import prices, a government report showed Sunday.
According to the report by the Korea Customs Service, the nation's trade deficit
with Japan amounted to a cumulative $30.85 billion during the January-November
period, up 12.6 percent from the same period a year earlier.
The figure already surpasses the record deficit of $29.9 billion that South Korea
posted with Japan for all of last year.
The snowballing deficit stemmed mostly from the sharp decline in the won's value
against the yen, which drove up import prices of Japanese-made parts used in
semiconductors and other key export items for South Korea. The won has lost more
than 40 percent against the yen so far this year.
Experts forecast that recently falling crude prices and a global economic
slowdown could lead to a reduction in the trade deficit in the months to come. In
November, South Korea's trade deficit with Japan came to $1.84 billion, down 28.9
percent from the same month last year, the report showed.
The trade deficit with Middle Eastern countries also spiked, exceeding the $70
billion mark for the first time, according to the report.
South Korea posted a cumulative $71.76 billion trade deficit with the oil-rich
countries in the months leading up to November, up 70.3 percent from a year
earlier. The rise was attributed to soaring crude prices which peaked in mid-July
before falling by more than half in the latter part of the year.
Meanwhile, the report estimated South Korea's total trade deficit stood at $13.66
billion by the end of November.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)