The state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI) said that the Korean economy is showing signs of slowdown amid a deepening slump in exports and sluggishness in the service industry.

In its January economic report released on Sunday, the KDI assessed that the nation is showing signs of an economic slowdown as its manufacturing industry is losing momentum with a worsening slump in exports and semiconductors in particular.

The KDI said in its November economic report that the nation witnessed an increase in economic indexes indicating a possible economic slowdown, while in the December report, the think tank presented a more pessimistic assessment that the nation appeared to be seeing a growing possibility of an economic slowdown.

The nation's exports plunged nine-point-five percent on-year in December, with shipments of semiconductors tumbling 29-point-one percent on-year.

The output in the service industry increased two-point-six percent in November, but the growth slowed from a four-point-eight percent gain in the previous month.

Retail sales, a key indicator of consumption levels, are also decreasing at a faster pace, as they shrank two-point-two percent in November compared to a zero-point-seven point fall in the previous month.