A new survey finds that half of economic experts assess that South Korea's economy is in a similar or worse state compared to the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Korea Enterprises Federation on Sunday said that a survey of 204 professors of economics and business management from local universities found that some 53 percent held the grim assessment.

Roughly 27 percent of respondents said the conditions are similar, while nearly 19 percent said the current state is worse.

About seven percent of those surveyed said current conditions are nearly identical to or worse than the Asian financial crisis of 1997, more commonly known as the “IMF Crisis” in South Korea.

More than 57 percent of respondents picked the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S.-China power struggle and the rise in energy prices as the main reasons behind the difficult economic times.

The survey also found that more than 66 percent of the surveyed economic experts expect the nation to post growth between one-and-a-half and two percent next year, while some 13 percent forecast growth of less than one-and-a-half percent.