NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea posted a current account deficit in April due to a sharp decline in exports amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Bank of Korea, the deficit amounted to 3.12 billion U.S. dollars, up over 2.7 billion dollars year on year. It marks the first current account deficit since April of last year and the largest since January 2011.
South Korean banks will introduce a courier service to deliver exchanged foreign currencies to their customers at places of choice. Once the service begins in this September, people will be able to place currency exchange orders at banks and pick them up at their homes or other designated venues, such as airports or duty free shops.
The National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea has deciphered the genome sequences of a Korean native shrimp for the first time in the world. This academic achievement was published in the international journal Scientific Data. The indigenous shrimp holds a great ecological and industrial value, as it is a main prey for fish or birds and can be used as a water pollution indicator.