STORY: S. Korea logs current account surplus for 8th month in December
SHOOTING TIME: file
DATELINE: Feb. 8, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:03
LOCATION: Seoul
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Bank of Korea (BOK) (July 18, 2019)
2. various of Busan container terminal (March 7, 2023)
3. various of semiconductor production line (courtesy of Samsung Electronics, July 9, 2019)
4. various of automobile export site (courtesy of Hyundai Motor Company, Oct. 24, 2019)
5. various of Seoul streets (courtesy of Yonhap TV, Feb. 7, 2024)

STORYLINE:

South Korea logged current account surplus for the eighth straight month in December last year due to export recovery, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, posted a surplus of 7.41 billion U.S. dollars in December 2023, staying in black since May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Trade surplus for goods stood at 8.04 billion dollars in December, hovering in black since April.

Export grew 5.8 percent from a year earlier to 59 billion dollars in December, while import dwindled 9.3 percent to 50.97 billion dollars.

The outbound shipment kept an upward trend for the third consecutive month on robust demand for locally-made semiconductors and automobiles.

Services account deficit amounted to 2.54 billion dollars in December, up from a deficit of 2.21 billion dollars in the previous month.

Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 2.46 billion dollars in December on higher overseas dividend income.

Financial account, which measures cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, recorded a net outflow of 5.68 billion dollars in the cited month.

Overseas direct investment by domestic residents rose 5.83 billion dollars, and foreign direct investment in South Korea increased 1.41 billion dollars.

For portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents gained 3.04 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds expanded 2.83 billion dollars.

For the whole year of 2023, current account surplus came to 35.49 billion dollars, higher than a surplus of 25.83 billion dollars in 2022.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Seoul.
(XHTV)