NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy announced today that January export and import shrank 16.6% and 2.6% year-on-year, respectively, to record 46.27 billion and 58.95 billion dollars. Subsequently, Korea saw a record high in trade deficit with 12.69 billion dollars to continue the 11-month-long deficit streak. Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho said that January's trade deficit was caused by seasonal factors such as increased energy import, spurred on by the plummeting semiconductor export prices and the Chinese economy slowed down by the pandemic. He added that the figures would gradually improve as seasonal factors weaken and China's reopening of its borders bring delayed results.
The Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said that although the indoor mask-wearing rule has been downgraded to a recommendation since Monday, the risk of COVID-19 hasn't completely disappeared yet. Disease control authorities explained that the World Health Organization decided to maintain the international public health emergency status. The Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters pledged to stably manage the disease control efforts and closely monitor the possibility of resurgence from the COVID-19 cases imported from China and relaxed mask rules.