Anchor: The depressed semiconductor industry is taking its toll on South Korea’s exports, which posted an on-year decline for the seventh straight month as outbound shipments of chips alone dropped 41 percent over last year. The ensuing constriction resulted in the 14th month of a trade deficit.
Choi You Sun has more.

Report: South Korean exports shrunk for the seventh consecutive month in April due largely to persistently sluggish demand in the semiconductor industry.

According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday, exports totaled 49-point-six billion U.S. dollars in April, down 14-point-two percent from a year earlier.

Exports have posted the longest negative streak since the period extending from December 2018 to January 2020, maintaining an on-year decline since last October in the wake of aggressive monetary tightening by major economies to curb inflation as well as an economic slowdown.

Outbound shipments of semiconductors, the country's key export item, stood at six-point-four billion dollars last month, dropping 41 percent on-year on the back of falling demand and chip prices.

The on-year growth of exports in the chip industry has posted a negative rate for nine straight months since last August.

The figure was particularly impacted by a fall in outbound shipments to China of 26-point-five percent on-year, while shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations fell 26-point-three percent, as both economies are major destinations for South Korean chip exports.

Although imports in April posted an on-year drop of 13-point-three percent at 52-point-two billion dollars driven mainly by falling global energy prices, the balance sheet still logged a trade deficit of two-point-six billion dollars last month to continue a 14-month streak in the red.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.