Economic Bulletin (Vol.32 No.2)

Vol. 32 | No.
Republic of Korea
Economic Bulletin
Special
The G-20 Seoul Summit 3
The Green Book : Current Economic Trends

Overview 5
1. Global economy 6
2. Private consumption 10
3. Facility investment 14
4. Construction investment 16
5. Exports and imports 18
6. Mining and manufacturing production 20
7. Service sector activity 22
8. Employment 24
9. Financial markets 28
9.1 Stock market
9.2 Exchange rate
9.3 Bond market
9.4 Money supply & money market
10. Balance of payments 32
11. Prices and international commodity prices 34
11.1 Prices
11.2 International oil and commodity prices
12. Real estate market 38
12.1 Housing market
12.2 Land market
13. Composite indices of business cycle indicators 42
Policy Issues
The National Strategy Meeting on Employment &
Job Creating Policies 44
Economic News Briefing 47
Statistical Appendices 53
special
The G-20 Seoul Summit
Overview
In response to the global financial crisis in late 2008, the first G-20 Summit was convened in
Washington, D.C. on November 14-15, 2008, followed by successive summits in London and
Pittsburgh. The G-20 Summits have responded with swift, bold and coordinated actions to
overcome the crisis, helping the world economy move out of recession faster than expected.
The G-20 was designated as the premier forum for international economic cooperation at the
Pittsburgh Summit, thanks to its proven accomplishments.
From January 27 to 29, President Lee Myung-bak visited Switzerland to participate in the
40th World Economic Forum and delivered a special address on January 28, introducing the
Korean government’s overall plans to host the G-20 Summit in Seoul this year and
emphasizing the significance of the Summit. In the address, President Lee Myung-bak
unveiled the direction of the G-20 Seoul Summit for the first time on the global stage,
representing the chair and host country of this year’s summit.
Priorities for the G-20 Seoul Summit
The following is a summary of the special address President Lee Myung-bak delivered at the
World Economic Forum with the title of “G-20 Seoul Summit: Priorities and Challenges.”
1. Successful implementation of the “Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced

Growth”
As the global economy moves into the path of recovery, the G-20 Seoul Summit will focus on
implementing the agreements of the previous summits. Placing emphasis on the longer-
term framework for policy coordination, the G-20 Seoul Summit will endeavor to achieve the
successful implementation of the “Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced
Growth”, agreed at the Pittsburgh Summit.
In addition, the initiatives taken at previous summits on improvement of financial regulation

toward a more resilient global financial system and the reform of international financial
institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank will be followed up. Devoted efforts will also
be made toward reaching agreement on a stronger and more effective early warning and
surveillance mechanism at the international level.
Economic Bulletin 3
special
As past G-20 Summits have played a pivotal role in resisting protectionist pressure, the
Seoul Summit will continue its effort to guard against protectionism. In this regard,
concluding the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) before the end of the year should be given
the highest priority.
2. Balanced growth of the world economy and the establishment of a “Global Financial
Safety Net”
Development issues to achieve balanced and sustainable growth will be added to the
agenda for discussion at the G-20 Seoul Summit. Although it is important to address the
weaknesses in the financial regulatory system of the advanced countries, there are also
many pressing policy and reform issues for emerging and developing countries.
In addition, the construction of a “Global Financial Safety Net” to better prepare for sudden
reversals of international capital flows will be included in the agenda. Along with the
establishment of such a financial safety net, arrangements aimed at successful
implementation of bilateral and regional cooperation should be placed.
3. Extensive outreach efforts toward non-G-20 countries
The G-20 Seoul Summit will be opened to non-member states and the private sector to share
the outcome of the strong and sustainable growth. Extensive outreach efforts to countries
outside the G-20 will be conducted through consultations with the United Nations and other
international bodies. In addition, the private sector business community will be given
opportunities to participate in the November G-20 Summit. As part of the initiative to
underline the role of the business community, a business summit will take place at the
venue of the G-20 Seoul Summit.
Key meetings1 for the G-20 in 2010
Date Meeting Location

Feb 27-28 G-20 Deputies’ Meeting Songdo, Incheon, Korea
Apr 23 G-20 Finance Ministers’ & Central Bank Governors’ Meeting Washington, D.C., USA
Jun 3-5 G-20 Finance Ministers’ & Central Bank Governors’ Meeting Busan, Korea
Jun 26-27 G-20 Summit Toronto, Canada
Mid Sep G-20 Deputies’ Meeting Gwangju, Korea
Early Oct G-20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors’ Meeting Washington, D.C., USA
Late Oct-Early Nov G-20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors’ Meeting Gyeongju, Korea
Nov 11-12 G-20 Summit Seoul, Korea
1. Please note that dates of meetings in the latter half of 2010 are subject to flexible scheduling and should not be considered final except for the G-20 Summit
held on November 11-12.
4 February 2010
The Green Book
Current Economic Trends
Overview
The Korean economy stays on an upward track although it has been bothered by external
uncertainties as well as temporary factors such as a high base effect from recent fast
recovery, the H1N1 flu pandemic, heavy snow and an unusual cold wave.
Mining and manufacturing production in December 2009 rose 3.5 percent month-on-month
and 33.9 percent year-on-year, affected by brisk exports and shipments. Service output
increased 1.8 percent month-on-month and 5.3 percent year-on-year, thanks to robust
wholesale and retail sales.
Consumer goods sales climbed both month-on-month and year-on-year in December by 1.7
percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, backed by surging durable goods sales, in particular
automobile sales, and improving semi and non-durable goods sales.
Facilities investment in December soared by 4.0 percent month-on-month and 21.0 percent
year-on-year, helped by recovering machinery investment. Construction completed
continued to grow for the second consecutive month, up 2.3 percent month-on-month and
13.1 percent year-on-year, as both the public and private sector indices increased.
The total number of workers hired deepened a decline year-on-year from a loss of 10,000 to
16,000 in December, as hiring in the agriculture, forestry & fishery significantly dropped. The
unemployment rate increased month-on-month from 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent.
Exports in January 2010 jumped 47.1 percent year-on-year, positively affected by a low base
effect and the recovering global economy. Imports soared 26.7 percent year-on-year, as an
unusual cold wave increased crude oil imports and a low base effect lifted the figure.
Consumer prices in January rose 3.1 percent year-on-year, as heavy snowfalls and a cold
wave pushed up the prices of agriculture, livestock & fishery products as well as petroleum
products.
In January, uncertainties in the financial market increased, affected by the US new banking
regulation called “the Volcker rule”, China’s tightening liquidity policies and worries over
sovereign credit risks in European countries.
To sum up, although the Korean economy has continued to improve in line with the global
economy gradually recovering, external uncertainties grow as oil prices are rising, China is
tightening its liquidity, and some European countries are facing credit risks.
The Korean government, to secure economic recovery and prepare for uncertainties at home
and abroad will keep pursuing expansionary fiscal policies and spend budgets as planned,
while continuing its efforts to create jobs and support the working class. On the other hand,
the government will keep an eye on any changes in internal and external uncertainties
including real estate markets and international financial markets.
Economic Bulletin 5
1. Global economy
The global economy continued its upward momentum, as major countries such as the U.S.
and China grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2009. Reflecting this trend, the
IMF and the World Bank revised their 2010 growth outlook for the world economy upward to
3.9 percent from 3.1 percent and to 2.7 percent from 2.3 percent, respectively. However,
uncertainties still remain, as swollen fiscal deficits in European countries such as Portugal,
Greece, and Spain are fueling concerns about sovereign credit risk.
US
US real GDP jumped 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter (annualized q-o-q, advanced
estimates), thanks to a slower rate of inventory decumulation, a facility investment rebound,
and an increase in private consumption.
However, consumption was still not in full recovery in December, as retail sales contracted
0.3 percent month-on-month, while industrial production increased 0.6 percent.
New home sales in December fell 7.6 percent and existing home sales tumbled 16.7 percent
month-on-month, fanning worries about the U.S. housing market seemingly away from
recovery.
In December, non-farm payrolls declined at a faster pace, while the unemployment rate
stayed flat at 10.0 percent.
The Federal Reserve announced in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on January
27 that it would maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0.0 to 0.25 percent,
and reaffirmed its plan to withdraw the emergency measures for liquidity provision including
the purchase of US$1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities by March 31 and the
Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) by June 30.
(Percentage change from previous period)

2008 2009
Annual Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Dec
Real GDP1 0.4 -2.7 -5.4 -2.4 -6.4 -0.7 2.2 5.7 -
- Personal consumption expenditure -0.2 -3.5 -3.1 -0.6 0.6 -0.9 2.8 2.0 -
- Corporate fixed investment 1.6 -6.1 -19.5 -17.9 -39.2 -9.6 -5.9 2.9 -
- Construction investment for housing -22.9 -15.9 -23.2 -20.4 -38.2 -23.3 18.9 5.7 -
Industrial production -1.8 -2.3 -3.4 -9.7 -5.2 -2.7 1.7 1.7 0.6
Retail sales -0.7 -1.5 -6.7 -6.0 -1.2 -0.3 1.6 1.7 -0.3
New home sales -37.4 -9.8 -15.0 -22.6 -13.5 9.9 9.2 -8.0 -7.6
New non-farm payroll employment
-257 -208 -553 -347 -691 -428 -199 -69 -85
(q-o-q, thousand)2
Consumer prices (y-o-y, %) 3.8 5.2 1.5 -0.3 -0.2 -0.9 -1.6 1.5 2.7
1. Annualized rate (%)
2. Monthly average
Source: US Department of Commerce
6 February 2010
1-1 US GDP (q-o-q, annualized rate)
Source: US Department of Commerce
1-2 US non-farm payroll employment (m-o-m change)

Source: US Department of Labor
1-3 US federal funds rate and consumer prices

Source: US Federal Reserve Board & Department of Labor
Economic Bulletin 7
China The Chinese economy expanded 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, posting an
annual growth of 8.7 percent, as domestic demand such as investment and consumption
continued to improve and exports rebounded. The Chinese government, in an attempt to
curb rising real estate prices, raised banks’ reserve ratio and imposed stricter requirements
on new loans as ways to tighten liquidity.
Home prices (y-o-y, %)

-0.6 (May 2009) 0.2 (Jun) 1.0 (Jul) 2.0 (Aug) 2.8 (Sep) 3.9 (Oct) 5.7 (Nov) 7.8 (Dec)
(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

2008 2009
Annual Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Dec
Real GDP 9.0 9.0 6.8 8.7 6.2 7.9 9.1 10.7 - -
Fixed asset investment (accumulated) 26.1 27.6 26.1 30.5 28.6 33.6 33.3 30.5 32.1 30.5
Retail sales 21.6 23.2 20.6 15.5 14.9 15.0 15.4 16.9 15.8 17.5
Industrial production 12.9 13.0 6.4 11.0 5.1 9.2 12.4 18.0 19.2 18.5
Exports 17.2 22.9 4.1 -15.9 -19.7 -23.5 -20.7 0.2 -1.2 17.7
Consumer prices 5.9 5.3 2.5 -0.7 -0.6 -1.5 -1.3 0.7 0.6 1.9
Producer prices 6.9 9.7 2.5 -5.4 -4.6 -7.2 -7.7 -2.1 -2.1 1.7
Source: China National Bureau of Statistics
Japan Japan’s economy saw its industrial production continue to grow, as exports in December
2009 rebounded year-on-year by 12.0 percent for the first time since October 2008.
However, domestic demand remains sluggish and consumer prices decreased for nine
months in a row since March 2009, indicating deflation continued to take its course.
2008 2009
Annual Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Dec
Real GDP -0.7 -1.0 -2.7 - -3.1 0.7 0.3 - -
Industrial and mining production -3.4 -3.3 -17.7 -22.3 -17.2 14.6 5.9 4.7 2.2
Retail sales (y-o-y, %) 0.3 0.8 -1.5 -2.3 -3.9 -0.9 -3.4 -0.8 -0.3
Exports (y-o-y, %) -3.5 3.2 -23.1 -33.1 -46.9 -38.5 -34.4 -8.0 12.0
Consumer prices (y-o-y, %) 1.4 2.2 1.0 -1.4 -0.1 -1.0 -2.2 -2.0 -1.7
Source: Japan's Statistics Bureau and Statistics Centre
Eurozone The eurozone economy is recovering at a slow pace, as consumption is still weak and the
unemployment rate in November reached 10 percent, showing deteriorating labor markets in
Europe. Enormous fiscal deficits in Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain downgraded their
credit ratings, fueling sovereign debt concerns.
2008 2009
Annual Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Dec
Real GDP 0.8 -0.3 -1.8 -2.5 -0.2 0.4 - - -
Industrial production -1.8 -1.7 -8.0 -8.6 -1.0 2.1 - 1.1 -
Retail sales -0.7 -0.5 -0.7 -0.8 -0.3 -0.3 -0.2 -0.5 0.0
Exports (y-o-y, %) 3.6 5.3 -5.0 -21.3 -23.4 -19.1 - -5.8 -
Consumer prices (y-o-y, %) 3.3 3.8 2.3 1.0 0.2 -0.4 0.4 0.5 0.9
Source: Eurostat
8 February 2010
1-4 China’s GDP and fixed asset investment
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China
1-5 Japan’s GDP growth

Source: Cabinet Office & Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan
1-6 Eurozone GDP growth and industrial production

Source: Eurostat
Economic Bulletin 9
2. Private consumption
Private consumption (advanced estimates of GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2009 edged down
0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter but increased 5.6 percent year-on-year.

2007 20081 20091
Annual Annual Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Private consumption 2
5.1 0.9 1.4 -3.7 0.2 -4.4 -0.8 0.8 5.6
(Seasonally adjusted) 3
- - 0.0 -4.6 - 0.4 3.6 1.5 -0.1
1. Preliminary 2. National accounts 3. Percentage change from previous period
Source: The Bank of Korea
Consumer goods sales in December 2009 rose 1.7 percent month-on-month or 12.1 percent
year-on-year, thanks to the brisk sales of durable goods, in particular automobiles, and
semi-durable goods.
Durable goods sales posted a fourth month-on-month increase of 2.8 percent, while soaring
44.4 percent year-on-year, due to solid automobile sales backed by tax incentives set to
expire at the end of 2009.
Semi-durable and non-durable goods sales increased 2.3 percent and 0.9 percent month-on-
month or 7.4 percent and 0.7 percent year-on-year, respectively, as sales picked up toward
the end of the year.

2008 2009
Annual Q4 Annual1 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q41 Oct Nov1 Dec1
Consumer goods sales 1.0 -4.2 2.7 -4.9 1.6 3.4 10.6 9.8 9.9 12.1
- -3.5 - 0.4 5.0 1.5 3.7 2.9 -1.1 1.7
- Durable goods 3
1.9 -9.9 7.5 -13.6 4.0 9.9 32.6 15.6 39.6 44.4
Automobiles -2.0 -19.5 21.9 -21.3 18.4 29.7 73.3 36.1 108.4 88.6
- Semi-durable goods 4
-2.4 -9.9 0.9 -0.9 0.3 0.2 3.8 3.6 0.6 7.4
- Non-durable goods 5
0.7 -0.4 1.5 -1.4 1.0 2.0 4.1 10.0 1.9 0.7
1. Preliminary
2. Percentage change from previous period
3. Durable goods: Automobiles, electronic appliances, furniture, telecommunications devices, etc.
4. Semi-durable goods: Clothing, footwear, etc.
5. Non-durable goods: Food, medicine, cosmetics, fuel, tobaccos, etc.
Source: Statistics Korea
Sales at department stores jumped 15.5 percent year-on-year, continuing an upward march
for ten months in a row, while sales at specialized retailers posted double-digit growth for
the third straight month.

2008 2009
Annual Q4 Annual1 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q41 Oct Nov1 Dec1
- Department stores 0.5 -5.0 5.3 1.4 2.8 6.5 10.4 12.0 4.1 15.5
- Large discounters 2.2 -1.2 -1.9 -5.0 -2.9 -3.2 3.4 5.5 -1.0 5.6
- Specialized retailers 2
-1.7 -8.1 2.9 -6.9 2.6 4.5 12.1 10.7 12.5 13.2
1. Preliminary
2. Specialized retailers are defined as stores carrying a few (1 to 3) specialized items.
10 February 2010
2-1 Private consumption
Source: The Bank of Korea (national accounts)
2-2 Consumer goods sales

Source: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)
2-3 Consumer goods sales by type

Economic Bulletin 11
Consumer goods sales in January 2010 are projected to slightly decline from a month earlier,
given temporary factors such as shrinking consumption caused by heavy snow and a cold
wave and decreasing automobiles sales affected by the termination of tax incentives.
Domestic sales of Korean automobiles shed around 38,000 units from the previous month,
due to the expiration of the tax break for new car purchases.
Domestic sales of Korean automobiles (ten thousand units)

13.1 (Oct 2009) 13.7(Nov) 15.7 (Dec) 11.9 (Jan 2010)
Sales at department stores grew 4.9 percent from a year earlier, while sales at large
discounters dropped 11.9 percent.
Gasoline sales continued a downward trend for the third consecutive month, due to the
rising prices, heavy snow and a cold wave.
Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %)

10.9 (Aug 2009) 14.7 (Sep) 9.4 (Oct) 18.3 (Nov) 20.0 (Dec) 20.2 (Jan 2010)
Department store sales (y-o-y, %)
Discount store sales (y-o-y, %)
-1.5 (Aug 2009) -6.0 (Sep) 4.5 (Oct) -2.8 (Nov) 3.9 (Dec) -11.9 (Jan 2010)
Domestic sales of Korean automobiles (y-o-y, %)
Domestic sales of gasoline (y-o-y, %)
4.0 (Aug 2009) -0.3 (Sep) 20.7 (Oct) -3.0 (Nov) -4.4 (Dec) -0.4 (Jan 2010)
Source: Ministry of Knowledge Economy
The Credit Finance Association
Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association
Korea National Oil Corporation
Ministry of Strategy and Finance (for data of January 2010)
The Hope Employment Project suspended in January, rising consumer prices, and growing
volatility in financial markets are likely to negatively affect recovery in consumption.
Number of workers hired (y-o-y, ten thousand)

-7.6 (Jul 2009) 0.3 (Aug) 7.1 (Sep) 1.0 (Oct) -1.0 (Nov) -1.6 (Dec)
Consumer prices (y-o-y, %)
KOSPI (end-quarter)
1,592 (Aug 2009) 1,673 (Sep) 1,581 (Oct) 1,556 (Nov) 1,683 (Dec) 1,602 (Jan 2010)
The won/dollar exchange rate (end-quarter)
1,245 (Aug 2009) 1,189 (Sep) 1,201 (Oct) 1,167 (Nov) 1,168 (Dec) 1,157 (Jan 2010)
Private consumption, drifted away from a recovery track, is expected to be back on track
after February when temporary factors behind shrinkage in consumption disappear.
Retail sales (excluding automobiles, m-o-m, %)

0.1 (Aug 2009) -0.2 (Sep) 1.9 (Oct) -0.4 (Nov) 1.2 (Dec)
The Consumer Sentiment Index, staying on an upward trend above the benchmark 100 for
nine straight months since May 2009, is also expected to positively affect recovery in private
consumption.
Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI)

109 (Jul 2009) 114 (Aug) 114 (Sep) 117 (Oct) 113 (Nov) 113 (Dec) 113 (Jan 2010)
12 February 2010
2-4 Department store and discount store sales (current value)
Source: Ministry of Knowledge Economy (monthly retail sales)
2-5 Domestic automobile sales

Source: Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (monthly automobile industry trend)
2-6 Consumer sentiment index

3. Facility investment
Facility investment (advanced estimates of GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2009 posted a
quarter-on-quarter increase of 4.7 percent, and a year-on-year gain of 12.9 percent.

2007 2008 2009
Annual Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Facility investment1 9.3 -2.0 1.5 1.1 4.3 -14.0 -23.5 -15.9 -7.4 12.9
(Seasonally adjusted) 2 - - -0.4 0.4 0.2 -14.2 -11.2 10.1 10.4 4.7
- Machinery 9.2 -2.7 -1.2 -0.1 6.5 -15.3 -24.0 -19.6 -15.1 -
- Transportation equipment 9.6 0.4 12.2 5.1 -3.6 -9.9 -21.8 -3.2 21.8 -
1. National accounts 2. Percentage change from previous period
Facility investment in December 2009 rose 21.0 percent year-on-year or 4.0 percent month-
on-month, as machinery investment, in particular that in semi-conductor equipment,
continued to increase.
Machinery investment increased 6.4 percent month-on-month, while investment in

transportation equipment fell 4.0 percent month-on-month due to an investment decline in
miscellaneous transportation equipment including vessels.
2007 2008 2009
Annual Annual Q4 Annual 1
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q41 Oct Nov1 Dec1
Facility investment 8.2 -4.3 -13.4 -8.1 -17.7 -13.4 -10.1 10.7 0.5 11.1 21.0
(Seasonally adjusted)2 - - -9.3 - -11.6 6.6 4.2 13.4 -5.6 7.7 4.0
- Machinery 7.5 -5.7 -14.5 -13.0 -21.9 -19.5 -17.2 9.5 0.6 8.4 19.2
- Transportation equipment 11.3 1.5 -9.0 11.8 0.4 11.3 19.6 15.5 0.0 21.3 28.0
Domestic machinery orders 20.6 -5.5 -47.3 -8.6 -33.8 -14.1 6.5 25.6 3.0 57.7 24.5
- Public -11.4 4.9 -3.5 62.5 150.5 30.9 281.3 -26.3 -75.7 108.8 -44.6
- Private 24.5 -6.2 -53.9 -16.2 -42.9 -18.5 -12.4 42.0 26.9 47.7 56.5
- Machinery imports 21.1 6.4 -11.5 -16.6 -27.9 -27.4 -15.9 -7.2 -17.3 21.6 24.7
Facility investment 1.7 -2.2 -15.6 -3.7 -18.9 -8.5 1.6 13.2 -2.9 15.2 32.0
adjustment pressure3
1. Preliminary
3. Production growth rate minus production capacity growth rate in the manufacturing sector (%p)
Sources: Statistics Korea & The Korea International Trade Association
Facility investment in January will likely continue an upward trend, given steady corporate
investment confidence and improving leading indicators such as rising domestic machinery
orders and increasing facility investment adjustment pressure.
2009 2010
Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
Business survey indices (base=100) for 95 100 96 98 103 101

manufacturing facility investment projections
14 February 2010
3-1 Facility investment by type
3-2 Machinery orders and estimated facility investment (3-month average)

3-3 Machinery imports

Source: Korea International Trade Association (KITA)
4. Construction investment
Construction investment (advanced estimates of GDP) in the fourth quarter rose 3.9
percent year-on-year, while unchanged quarter-on-quarter.

2007 2008 2009
Annual Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Construction investment 1
1.4 -2.1 -1.9 -0.3 0.2 -5.6 1.6 3.7 2.7 3.9
- - -2.5 -0.3 0.1 -3.0 5.2 1.7 -2.0 0.0
- Building construction -0.0 -4.3 -1.2 -0.1 -0.1 -14.3 -11.1 -3.5 -0.4 -
- Civil engineering works 3.8 1.3 -3.2 -0.7 0.7 5.7 24.9 14.3 7.7 -
1. National accounts
Construction completed (current value) in December 2009 rose 13.1 percent year-on-year, as
construction completed in the private sector increased along with the public sector, landing
at 10.9 percent, the first double digit growth since September 2008. Both building
construction and civil engineering works climbed by 9.5 percent and 17.4 percent,
respectively.

2007 2008 2009
Annual Annual Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Oct Nov1 Dec1
Construction completed 6.6 4.7 -2.2 3.7 4.5 7.0 -0.6 4.1 -5.2 3.6 13.1
(Seasonally adjusted)2 - - -6.2 - 7.7 2.2 -6.6 2.6 -2.9 0.6 2.3
- Public 8.4 6.5 8.7 21.3 24.4 32.1 21.7 10.5 4.9 8.1 16.7
- Private 4.6 1.7 -9.1 -5.1 -5.0 -5.2 -11.3 1.1 -9.6 2.3 10.9
Construction orders 23.6 -9.0 -6.5 1.8 -16.5 -2.0 9.1 11.1 27.2 77.0 -19.5
- Public 40.3 9.1 5.0 58.1 22.0 186.5 75.6 13.2 89.7 64.6 -32.2
- Private 16.5 -15.8 -15.3 -22.3 -38.4 -62.4 -10.7 16.0 16.3 85.6 -10.0
Building permit area 13.3 -20.1 -41.9 -12.9 -31.6 -32.7 -4.6 13.1 -29.5 14.1 42.7
1. Preliminary
Source: Statistics Korea & The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs
Construction investment in January is projected to fall slightly from the previous month,
negatively affected by seasonal factors such as heavy snow and a cold wave. Business
survey index for construction projections dropped to 73.2, the level seen in April 2009.
2009 2010
Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan
Business survey indices (base=100) for 92.8 110.8 90.1 83.6 74.8
construction projections
Source: The Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea
16 February 2010
4-1 Construction investment
4-2 Construction completed and housing construction

Source: Statistics Korea (construction completed)
Kookmin Bank (housing construction)
4-3 Leading indicators of construction investment

Source: Statistics Korea (construction orders)
Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (building construction permit area)
5. Exports and imports
Exports in January rose 47.1 percent year-on-year to US$31.08 billion.
The large increase in exports is mainly attributed to a low base effect from the previous year
and the global economic recovery. However, daily average exports in working-day-adjusted
terms fell from the previous month, affected by seasonal factors and a decrease in vessel
exports which dropped from the previous month’s US$4 billion to US$1.9 billion.
By export category, semiconductors (up 121.6%) and liquid crystal devices (up 103.4%)
surged, and by regional category, exports to China (up 98.9%) and the ASEAN (up 63.0%)
greatly improved.
(US$ billion)
2009 2010
Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Jan Nov Dec Jan
Exports 363.53 74.42 90.36 94.78 103.97 21.13 33.99 36.01 31.08
(y-o-y, %) -13.9 -25.2 -21.1 -17.6 11.7 -34.5 17.9 32.8 47.1
Average daily exports 1.30 1.10 1.30 1.32 1.49 0.87 1.48 1.50 1.38
Imports 323.09 71.42 74.00 84.84 92.85 24.90 29.53 32.92 31.55
(y-o-y, %) -25.8 -32.7 -35.6 -31.0 1.4 -31.4 2.4 23.9 26.7
Average daily imports 1.16 1.06 1.06 1.18 1.33 1.16 1.28 1.37 1.40
Source: Korea Customs Service
Imports in January jumped 26.7 percent year-on-year to US$31.55 billion due to a low base
effect and an increase in imports of crude oil by 44.1 percent and petroleum products by
201.0 percent, backed by a cold wave. Average daily imports in working-day-adjusted-terms
slightly increased from the previous month. Imports of capital goods, raw materials and
consumer goods all expanded greatly year-on-year.
Raw materials (y-o-y, %)

-42.8 (Q2, 2009) -39.3 (Q3) -2.3 (Q4); 24.1 (Dec) 25.5 (Jan 2010)
Capital goods (y-o-y, %)
-23.6 (Q2, 2009) -13.7 (Q3) 8.2 (Q4); 28.1 (Dec) 32.1 (Jan 2010)
Consumer goods (y-o-y, %)
-24.4 (Q2, 2009) -20.9 (Q3) 4.6 (Q4); 12.4 (Dec) 19.1 (Jan 2010)
The trade balance in December shifted to a deficit for the first time in eleven months, posting
a loss of US$470 million. In January, trade balance usually declines as exports fall greatly
due to decreasing year-end demand. However in February, trade balance is projected to
return to the black.
(US$ billion)
2009 2010
Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Jan Nov Dec Jan
Trade Balance 40.45 3.00 16.39 9.94 11.12 -3.77 4.46 3.08 -0.47
Source: Korea Customs Service
18 February 2010
5-1 Exports (customs clearance basis)
Source: Korea Customs Service & Ministry of Knowledge Economy (export and import trend)
5-2 Imports (customs clearance basis)

5-3 Trade balance

6. Mining and manufacturing production
Mining and manufacturing production rose 3.5 percent month-on-month in December 2009,
thanks to brisk exports and domestic shipments, while year-on-year it soared 33.9 percent.
By business category, semiconductors and parts (up 109.2%), automobiles (up 59.0%), and
primary metals (up 36.5%) posted an increase year-on-year, whereas beverages (down
12.4%) and refined petroleum products (down 7.0%) decreased.
Shipments increased at a faster pace year-on-year from 15.5 percent to 26.2 percent, while
the level of inventory decelerated a drop from the previous month’s 14.3 percent to 7.5
percent.
By business category, the shipments of semiconductors and parts (up 82.1%) and
automobiles (up 46.5%) rose year-on-year, while those of transportation equipment (down
6.5%) and refined petroleum products (down 3.9%) declined. The inventories of
semiconductors and parts (up 12.3%) and refined petroleum products (up 8.5%) increased
while those of apparels (down 29.9%) and primary metals (down 16.7%) went down.
The average operation ratio of the manufacturing sector landed at 79.9 percent,
approaching the usual level of 80 percent.

2008 2009
Annual Q4 Dec Annual 1
Q3 Q4 Oct Nov1 Dec1
Production (q-o-q, m-o-m) - -11.9 -9.6 - 7.2 1.4 -3.8 1.5 3.5
(y-o-y) 3.0 -11.3 -18.7 -0.7 4.2 16.1 0.3 17.9 33.9
- Manufacturing 3.0 -12.1 -20.0 -0.9 4.4 16.8 0.5 18.7 35.9
Heavy chemical industry 4.1 -12.8 -21.8 0.0 5.6 19.9 2.0 21.7 41.3
Mining and
manufacturing Light industry -2.2 -8.8 -10.8 -5.5 -1.8 2.3 -7.1 4.1 11.7
activity2
Shipment 2.4 -10.1 -15.5 -1.7 2.1 12.8 -0.6 15.5 26.2
- Domestic demand -0.7 -11.0 -14.9 -2.3 3.1 12.2 -1.0 13.8 25.8
- Exports 7.1 -8.8 -16.3 -0.8 0.8 13.7 -0.1 17.8 26.7
Inventory3 7.3 7.3 7.3 -7.5 -13.9 -7.5 -16.1 -14.3 -7.5
Manufacturing Average operation ratio (%) 77.2 69.3 62.3 74.1 78.9 78.2 77.3 77.3 79.9
activity Production capacity 5.2 3.5 3.4 2.8 2.8 3.6 3.4 3.5 3.9
1. Preliminary 2. Including mining, manufacturing, electricity and gas industry 3. End-period
Mining and manufacturing production in January is projected to show limited improvement

month-on-month due to a reduction in the number of working days, despite an increase in
production backed by rising exports and inventory adjustment.
Industrial electricity sales (thousand GWh)

18.3 (Sep 2009) 17.7 (Oct) 18.1 (Nov) 19.1 (Dec) 19.2 (Jan 2010)1
1. Estimate
Export increase (%)

-20.9 (Aug 2009) -9.4 (Sep) -8.5 (Oct) 17.9 (Nov) 32.8 (Dec) 47.1 (Jan 2010)
20 February 2010
6-1 Industrial production
6-2 Average manufacturing operation ratio

6-3 Inventory
7. Service sector activity
Service activity in December 2009 reversed its course to increase 1.8 percent month-on-
month after decreasing for two consecutive months since October. From a year earlier,
service output expanded 5.3 percent.
By business category, real estate & renting services (up 12.2%), healthcare & social welfare
services (up 11.6%) and wholesale & retail sales (up 8.1%) led the year-on-year increase in
service activity. On the other hand, educational services declined 2.1 percent from a year
earlier.

2008 2009
Weight
Annual Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Oct Nov1 Dec1
Service activity index 100 3.4 -0.4 1.7 -0.4 1.6 2.2 3.3 1.3 3.5 5.3
- Wholesale & retail 22.0 1.4 -4.6 -0.2 -4.0 -2.2 0.3 5.1 1.9 5.4 8.1
- Transportation services 9.0 4.3 -3.2 -5.7 -10.8 -9.5 -4.1 1.8 -2.1 2.4 5.4
- Hotels & restaurants 7.8 0.7 -3.0 -1.2 -2.4 -0.3 -2.2 -0.2 -2.7 -2.0 3.7
- Information & communication services 8.4 3.5 -0.2 0.4 -1.9 0.9 1.5 1.0 1.5 1.5 0.1
- Financial & insurance services 15.3 9.7 4.5 7.5 6.6 9.8 8.7 4.9 4.0 4.8 5.9
- Real estate & renting 6.3 -2.1 -7.5 5.3 -3.1 1.5 9.3 14.0 14.3 15.8 12.2
- Professional, scientific & technical services 4.8 2.0 0.9 0.6 -1.9 3.2 0.1 0.8 -3.0 -2.4 5.8
- Business services 2.9 4.6 0.1 -2.9 -4.8 -6.6 -1.1 0.5 0.4 -0.4 1.5
- Educational services 10.8 1.8 2.3 1.1 3.7 6.9 -2.6 -3.3 -7.5 0.1 -2.1
- Healthcare & social welfare services 6.0 6.3 6.5 9.6 8.6 8.1 9.8 11.6 11.5 11.7 11.6
- Entertainment, cultural & sports services 2.9 2.2 4.3 -0.5 1.5 0.9 0.1 -3.8 -6.6 -6.6 2.3
- Membership organizations 3.8 0.1 -1.0 -2.4 -3.4 -5.0 -1.7 0.1 -0.6 -2.6 3.2
- Sewerage & waste management 0.4 5.8 4.0 3.6 0.5 8.8 5.5 -0.2 -3.4 2.7 0.0
1. Preliminary
Considering credit card spending and the volume of stock transactions, service activity in
January 2010 is expected to hold steady although leisure services are likely to contract due
to heavy snow and cold weather.
Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %)

14.7 (Sep 2009) 9.4 (Oct) 18.3 (Nov) 20.0 (Dec) 20.2 (Jan 2010)
Volume of stock transactions (trillion won)

22 February 2010
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Economic Bulletin
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23
8. Employment
The number of workers on payroll in December 2009 declined by 16,000 from a year earlier,
while the employment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to 57.6 percent.
Employment in manufacturing (down 16,000), construction (down 58,000), and agriculture,

forestry & fishery (down 169,000) stayed on a downward track, while hiring in the service
sector (up 228,000) surged driven by the government’s job creation policies. Manufacturing
employment slowed the pace of decline. The continued fall in construction employment was
attributed to the sluggish private sector construction, while employment slump in
agriculture, forestry & fishery was mainly due to decreased autumn cultivation and a drop in
temperature.
Wage workers rose by 366,000 led by an increase of 564,000 in regular workers, although
the number of daily workers plunged by 191,000. Non-wage workers including self-employed
workers, however, plummeted by 382,000 from a year earlier. In the mean time, female
workers (down 142,000) and workers aged 30 to 39 (down 131,000) saw a sharp decrease.
2008 2009
Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Dec Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Dec
Number of employed (million) 23.58 23.05 23.87 23.75 23.64 23.25 23.51 22.90 23.74 23.75 23.63 23.23
Employment rate (%) 59.5 58.5 60.4 59.9 59.4 58.4 58.6 57.4 59.3 59.1 58.7 57.6
Employment growth (y-o-y, thousand) 145 209 173 141 54 -12 -72 -146 -134 -1 -6 -16
(Excluding agriculture, forestry & fishery) 182 272 227 179 46 -16 -34 -160 -109 24 110 153
- Manufacturing -52 -18 -34 -52 -103 -133 -126 -163 -151 -143 -49 -16
- Construction -37 -22 -46 -40 -41 -48 -91 -43 -113 -103 -107 -58
- Services 263 307 300 262 187 162 186 47 155 269 264 228
- Agriculture, forestry & fishery -37 -63 -54 -38 8 4 -38 14 -25 -25 -116 -169
- Wage workers 236 312 289 208 137 86 247 73 175 356 413 366
Regular workers 386 435 448 347 316 318 383 318 313 386 492 564
Temporary workers -93 -98 -96 -83 -94 -94 22 -136 -5 125 186 -8
Daily workers -57 -25 -63 -56 -85 -138 -158 -108 -133 -155 -264 -191
- Non-wage workers -92 -102 -115 -66 -83 -97 -319 -220 -309 -357 -424 -382
Self-employed workers -79 -79 -67 -76 -95 -93 -259 -197 -286 -276 -307 -265
- Male 96 133 117 92 43 4 31 -23 24 34 89 126
- Female 48 76 56 49 12 -16 -103 -124 -158 -34 -94 -142
- 15 to 29 -119 -107 -87 -114 -166 -155 -127 -212 -99 -123 -77 -12
- 30 to 39 -26 -4 29 -36 -92 -109 -173 -159 -213 -169 -149 -131
- 40 to 49 64 52 56 92 56 46 -24 8 -27 -30 -46 -68
- 50 to 59 207 254 199 169 206 185 198 193 156 211 230 242
- 60 or more 18 15 -24 30 50 22 54 23 49 109 37 -47
24 February 2010
8-1 Number of employed and employment growth
Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)
8-2 Share of employed by industry

8-3 Share of employed by status of workers

The number of the unemployed in December 2009 climbed by 47,000 year-on-year to record
834,000, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 3.5 percent.
Contrary to the general trend, unemployment for women (up 51,000) grew at a faster pace
than for men in December.
The unemployment rate was high among youths aged 15 to 29 and high school graduates.
However, their unemployment rates were nearly unchanged or edged down from a year
earlier in December.
2008 2009
Number of unemployed (thousand) 769 801 767 752 757 787 889 908 943 886 817 834
Unemployment growth (y-o-y, thousand) -14 -50 -24 -5 24 51 119 107 176 134 60 47
- Male -12 -43 -32 1 25 51 80 83 116 95 25 -4
- Female -1 -7 9 -6 -1 0 40 24 60 39 36 51
Unemployment rate (%) 3.2 3.4 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.6 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.3 3.5
(Seasonally adjusted) 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.6 3.5 3.9 3.7 3.5 3.5
- Youth aged 15 to 29 7.2 7.3 7.4 6.9 7.0 7.6 8.1 8.6 8.0 8.1 7.6 7.6
- Middle school graduate or under 2.2 2.5 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.2 2.3 2.9
- High school graduate 3.8 4.0 3.7 3.8 3.8 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.0 4.1
- College, univ. graduate or over 3.0 3.1 3.1 2.9 2.9 2.7 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.3 3.2 3.1
The economically inactive population in December was up 481,000 from a year earlier to
post 16,250,000 led by workers quit jobs due to family duties (up 313,000) and retirement
(up 98,000) as well as workers stayed away from work to take a rest (up 107,000).
Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate was down 0.7 percentage points year-on-year
to 59.7 percent.
2008 2009
Economically inactive population (million) 15.25 15.58 14.90 15.15 15.37 15.77 15.70 16.09 15.35 15.53 15.83 16.25
Participation rate (%) 61.5 60.5 62.3 61.8 61.3 60.4 60.6 59.7 61.7 61.3 60.7 59.7
Growth in economically inactive
297 270 256 289 372 424 447 514 445 374 456 481
population (y-o-y, thousand)
- Engaged in family duties 123 122 127 134 112 88 188 209 173 119 250 313
- Retired 76 42 100 104 59 76 88 52 102 105 92 98
- Rest 31 36 14 -27 99 162 123 162 112 94 123 107
26 February 2010
8-4 Employment rate
8-5 Unemployment rate and youth unemployment rate

8-6 Unemployment rate by education

9. Financial market
9.1 Stock market

The Korean stock market in January 2010 plunged in line with a fall in global stock markets.
Global investor sentiment has been chilled as the Bank of China raised the bank reserve
ratio by half a percentage point on January 18 and the Obama administration proposed
financial reform regulations on January 21.
Persisting worries over a burgeoning debt crisis of European countries such as Greece and
Spain contracted investment into emerging markets of Europe as well as Asia.
Although the domestic stock market was lifted by the so-called “January effect” at the
beginning of the year, the market thereafter fell driven by foreign investors who have
continued their net-selling of Korean shares since China raised the reserve requirement ratio
for its banks.
(End-period, point, trillion won)

KOSPI KOSDAQ
Dec 2009 Jan 2010 Change 1
Dec 2009 Jan 2010 Change1
Stock price index 1,682.8 1,602.4 -80.4(-4.8%) 513.1 496.6 16.5(3.2%)
Market capitalization 887.3 848.1 -39.2(-4.4%) 85.2 84.6 -0.6(-0.7%)
Average daily trade value 4.7 6.2 1.5(32.2%) 2.0 3.2 1.2(62.3%)
Foreign stock ownership 32.7 32.5 -0.2(-0.6%) 7.8 7.6 -0.2(-2.6%)
1. Change from the end of the previous month
9.2 Exchange rate

The won/dollar exchange rate as of the end of January 2010 fell 2.7 won from 1,164.5 won at
the end of December to wrap up the month at 1,161.8 won.
The exchange rate dropped to 1,119 won, the lowest this year, on January 11 as the won
gained strength with financial soundness and a bright outlook for economic growth. It,
thereafter, shifted to a rise as investors’ appetite for safe assets grew due to US President
Obama’s proposal to strengthen regulations on banks, concerns over China’s tightening and
credit risks in the eurozone.
The won/yen exchange rate rose to the 1,290 won range as uncertainties in the international
financial markets boosted demand for safe assets including the yen.
(End-period)
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Dec Dec Dec Dec Jan Change1
Won/Dollar 929.8 936.1 1,259.5 1,164.5 1,161.8 0.2
Won/100Yen 783.4 828.6 1,396.8 1,264.5 1,293.2 -2.2
1. Appreciation from the end of the previous year (%); the exchange rate is based on the closing price at 3:00 p.m., local time.
28 February 2010
9-1 Stock prices
9-2 Foreign exchange rate (month-end)
9-3 Recent foreign exchange rate
9.3 Bond market
Treasury bond yields were down in January 2010 due to the Bank of Korea’s policy rate
freeze, growing demand for safe assets amid the bearish stock market and slowed GDP
growth in the fourth quarter of 2009. Foreign investors continued their net-selling of KTB
futures, accelerating the fall in the yields.
(End-period, %)
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Dec Dec Dec Dec Nov Dec Jan Change1
Call rate (1 day) 3.76 4.60 5.02 3.02 2.01 2.01 2.00 -1
CD (91 days) 4.09 4.86 5.82 3.93 2.79 2.88 2.88 0
Treasury bonds (3 yrs) 5.08 4.92 5.74 3.41 4.10 4.44 4.27 -17
Corporate bonds (3 yrs) 5.52 5.29 6.77 7.72 5.21 5.56 5.39 -17
Treasury bonds (5 yrs) 5.36 5.00 5.78 3.77 4.61 4.98 4.82 -16
1. Basis point changes in January 2010 from the previous month
9.4 Money supply & money market

The M2 (monthly average) in November 2009 expanded 9.1 percent from a year earlier
excluding cash management accounts (CMAs), which were included in M2 since July 2009.
The year-on-year M2 growth was lower than the previous month’s 9.9 percent, due to
reduced inflow of foreign funds into securities and a high base effect. The M2 increased 12
trillion won in November 2009, while it swelled 22 trillion won along with fiscal expansion in
November 2008.
(Percentage change from same period in previous year, average)

2007 2008 2009
Annual Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Q1 Q2 Q3 Oct Nov Nov1
M1+ 2
-5.2 -1.8 -12.4 -0.1 2.1 5.0 5.5 10.8 17.6 18.9 19.6 17.3 371
M2 11.2 14.3 13.3 15.3 14.7 13.8 14.0 11.5 10.1 9.5 9.9 9.1 1,556
Lf3 10.2 11.9 11.6 12.8 12.1 11.2 11.4 8.8 7.3 7.5 7.4 Around 7 1,9824
1. Balance at end November 2009, trillion won
2. M1 excluding corporate MMFs and individual MMFs while including CMAs
3. Liquidity aggregates of financial institutions (mostly identical with M3)
4. Balance at end October 2009, trillion won
In December 2009, bank deposits turned to a decrease as increased demand for money at
year-end fueled withdrawals, and banks stepped up efforts to reduce the amount of CDs
under stiffer regulations on the loan to deposit ratio.
Asset management company (AMC) deposits plummeted as withdrawals of funds expanded

due to efforts at year-end to lower debt ratios by businesses as well as to improve BIS ratios
by banks.
(Monthly change, end-period, trillion won)

2007 2008 2009
Annual Dec Annual Dec Oct Nov Dec Dec1
Bank deposits 59.6 -3.6 104.3 -8.2 -6.8 1.5 -8.3 1,008
AMC deposits 61.8 -0.4 63.0 12.8 -7.3 4.4 -11.1 332
1. Balance at end December 2009, trillion won
30 February 2010
9-4 Interest rates
9-5 Total money supply

9-6 Share of deposits by financial sector (M3 as of year-end)

* Retail finance: Mutual savings banks & National Credit Union Federation of Korea, Others: Investment banks, post office savings, etc.
10. Balance of payments
Korea’s current account recorded a US$1.52 billion surplus in December 2009.
The goods account has continued to post a surplus for eleven consecutive months since
February 2009 on the back of trade surpluses. The goods account surplus, however, shrank
to US$4.02 billion from US$5.84 billion a month earlier.
The service account deficit surged to US$2.80 billion from the previous month’s US$1.66
billion, as deficits swelled in the travel and business service accounts due to seasonal
factors.
The income account surplus expanded to US$700 million from US$390 million of the
previous month mainly due to increased dividend income.
The current transfer account deficit was up to US$400 million from the previous month’s
US$290 million with increased outward remittance.
(US$ billion)
2008 2009
Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Dec
Current account -5.78 -4.87 -0.41 -8.33 7.83 42.67 8.62 13.10 10.40 10.56 4.28 1.52
- Goods balance 5.67 -1.38 5.53 -3.23 4.75 56.13 8.31 17.58 14.70 15.54 5.84 4.02
- Service balance -16.67 -4.94 -4.46 -5.84 -1.44 -17.20 -1.93 -4.17 -5.33 -5.78 -1.66 -2.80
- Income balance 5.90 1.98 -0.52 1.50 2.94 4.55 0.92 0.29 1.69 1.65 0.39 0.70
- Current transfers -0.67 -0.53 -0.96 -0.76 1.58 -0.81 1.31 -0.60 -0.66 -0.86 -0.29 -0.40
The capital and financial account in December posted a net inflow of US$1.64 billion.
Capital & financial account balance (US$ billion)

-1.40 (Q1 2009) 8.68 (Q2) 14.40 (Q3) 4.77 (Q4); 1.54 (Nov) 1.64 (Dec)
The direct investment account reduced the net outflow to register US$1.37 billion from the
previous month’s deficit of US$2.84 billion as outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) by
locals was down.
The portfolio investment account decreased the net inflow to record US$970 million from
US$3.39 billion a month earlier as foreign investment in the Korean bond market declined.
The financial derivatives account expanded the net inflow to post US$990 million from
US$850 million in the previous month as payments related to overseas financial derivative
transactions decreased.
The other investment account increased the surplus to US$1.01 billion from the previous
month’s US$190 million as the net inflow of trade credits was up.
The current account is likely to shift to a deficit in January 2010 as the trade balance turned
to a deficit of US$470 million and the service account deteriorated due to seasonal factors.
32 February 2010
10-1 Current account balance
Source: The Bank of Korea (balance of payments trend)
10-2 Travel balance

10-3 Capital & financial account balance

11. Prices and international commodity prices
11.1 Prices
Consumer prices in January 2010 increased 0.4 percent month-on-month while rising 3.1
percent year-on-year.
Core consumer prices, which exclude the prices of oil and agricultural products, rose by 2.1
percent year-on-year. Consumer prices for basic necessities, a barometer of perceived
consumer prices, were up 3.8 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.
Consumer price inflation

2009 2010
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan
Month-on-Month (%) 0.1 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.0 -0.1 0.4 0.4 0.1 -0.3 0.2 0.4 0.4
Year-on-Year (%) 3.7 4.1 3.9 3.6 2.7 2.0 1.6 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.1
Core consumer prices (y-o-y) 5.2 5.2 4.5 4.2 3.9 3.5 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.2 2.1
(m-o-m) 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1
Consumer prices for basic
2.8 3.3 3.1 3.0 1.8 0.5 0.4 1.3 1.7 1.5 2.3 3.3 3.8
necessities (y-o-y)
The year-on-year inflation temporarily exceeded 3 percent due to the low base effect
following the last year’s weak oil product prices.
Prices of Dubai crude (US$/barrel)
44.1 (Jan 2009) 76.8 (Jan 2010)
Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products gained strength due to seasonal factors
including cold wave and heavy snowfall.
Prices of agricultural, livestock & fishery products in January 2010 (m-o-m, %)
Rice (0.3), radish (9.0), Chinese cabbage (31.5), cucumber (-7.5), lettuce (39.5), mandarin orange (10.1), Korean
beef (-0.2), pork (-3.2), mackerel (0.4), scabbard fish (4.8), Alaska pollack (3.1)
Prices of oil products increased 1.6 percent from a month earlier affected by higher
international oil prices and increased LPG supply prices in early January.
Prices of oil products in January 2010 (m-o-m, %)
Gasoline (1.0), diesel (0.7), kerosene (1.5), LPG for automobiles (6.1), LPG for kitchen use (5.7)
Public utility charges rose 0.4 percent month-on-month as administrative charges increased
and fees for medical treatment climbed due to adjustments by National Health Insurance
Corporation at the beginning of the year. Personal service charges were up 0.2 percent from
the previous month due to price adjustments of some personal services at the beginning of the
year and increasing fuel surcharge by airliners.
Consumer price inflation in major sectors

Agricultural,
livestock & fishery Industrial Oil Housing Public Personal
Total
products products products rents utility services
Month-on-Month (%) 0.4 2.6 0.1 1.6 0.1 0.4 0.2

Contribution (%p) 0.35 0.22 0.03 0.09 0.01 0.07 0.06
Year-on-Year (%) 3.1 2.4 5.4 18.4 1.2 1.9 2.2
Contribution (%p) 3.07 0.21 1.66 0.94 0.11 0.31 0.78
34 February 2010
11-1 Prices
Source: Statistics Korea (consumer prices, core inflation) & The Bank of Korea (producer prices)
11-2 Consumer price inflation

Source: Statistics Korea (consumer price trend)
11-3 Contribution to consumer price inflation

Source: Statistics Korea (consumer price trend)
11.2. International oil and commodity prices
Before turning to a decrease after mid-January amid China’s tightening policy and a strong
dollar led by concerns over credit squeeze in some European countries including Greece,
international oil prices rose as heating demand was boosted by abnormally cold weather and
heavy snow.
(US$/barrel, period average)
2007 2008 2009 2010
Annual Annual Annual Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan
Dubai crude 68.4 94.3 61.9 65.0 71.4 67.7 73.2 77.7 75.5 76.8
Brent crude 72.8 97.5 61.7 64.6 72.9 67.5 72.8 76.7 74.5 76.4
WTI crude 72.3 99.9 61.9 64.2 71.1 69.4 75.8 78.1 74.5 78.3
Source: KOREAPDS
Record high oil prices (spot prices, US$/barrel)

Dubai crude: 141 (Jul 4, 2008), Brent crude: 145 (Jul 3), WTI crude: 146 (Jul 14)
Despite the won’s appreciation, domestic prices of international oil products inched up
month-on-month as higher international oil product prices were reflected with the timg lag.
(Won/liter, period average)

2007 2008 2009 2010
Gasoline prices 1,526 1,692 1,601 1,639 1,670 1,681 1,627 1,655 1,646 1,661
Diesel prices 1,273 1,614 1,397 1,428 1,447 1,453 1,409 1,452 1,441 1,450
Source: Korea National Oil Corporation
Prices of non-ferrous metals in January rose despite a strong dollar while international prices
of grain fell due to weak fundamental factors.
Monthly average prices of non-ferrous metals increased month-on-month before turning to a

decrease after mid-January as China, the world’s largest consumer of raw materials,
announced monetary policy tightening.
International prices of grain including corn, wheat and soybean decreased from the previous
month due to a strong dollar, bullish harvest expectation for 2009-2010, and increased
stockpile.
Prices of non-ferrous metals and grain in January 2010 (m-o-m, %)

Corn (-4.1), wheat (-3.6), soybean (-5.2), bronze (5.6), aluminum (2.4), nickel (7.8), zinc (1.8), lead (1.5), tin (13.8)
Reuters index*
(Period average)
2007 2008 2009 2010
2,400 2,536 2,079 2,082 2,159 2,147 2,197 2,243 2,294 2,343
* A weighted average index of 17 major commodities
Source: KOREAPDS
36 February 2010
11-4 International oil prices
Source: Korea National Oil Corporation
11-5 International oil prices (Dubai crude) and import prices

Source: Korea National Oil Corporation & Korea Customs Service
11-6 International commodity prices

Source: Bloomberg (CRB) & The Bank of Korea (Reuters index)
* CRB demonstrates futures price index of 21 commodities listed on the US Commodity Transaction Market, including beans and other crops, crude oil and jewelry.
12. Real estate market
12.1 Housing market
In January 2010, nationwide apartment sales prices inched up mere 0.1 percent month-on-
month, decelerating the pace of increase for four straight months.
Despite an upward trend in Gangnam (up 0.2%) spurred by development projects,

apartment sales prices in the Seoul metropolitan area remained stable as those in Gyeonggi
province (down 0.1%) continue to fall due to increasing supply of newly built apartments.
On the other hand, apartment sales prices in other cities, especially Busan (up 0.6%) and
Daejeon (up 0.6%), increased relatively significantly amid supply shortage.
Nationwide apartment sales prices

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Annual Annual Annual Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Dec Jan Jan41 Jan111 Jan181 Jan251
Nationwide 13.8 2.1 2.3 1.6 -1.2 0.4 1.5 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.03 0.06 0.06 0.08
Seoul 24.1 3.6 3.2 2.6 -1.3 1.0 2.6 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.02 0.05 0.03 0.09
Gangnam 2
27.6 0.5 -1.9 3.9 -1.1 1.7 3.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.04 0.09 0.05 0.14
Gangbuk3 19.0 8.3 9.4 0.9 -1.7 0.2 2.0 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.03
Seoul metropolitan area 24.6 4.0 2.9 0.7 -1.8 0.5 1.8 0.2 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.03
5 metropolitan cities 2.1 -0.6 1.0 2.8 -0.7 0.3 1.3 1.9 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.07 0.14 0.13 0.17
1. Weekly trends 2. Upscale area of Southern Seoul 3. Northern Seoul Source: Kookmin Bank
The rental prices have moderately accelerated the growth pace by rising 0.4 percent from
the previous month. The rental prices in Gangnam (up 1.9%), Seocho (up 1.7%), and Songpa
(up 0.9%) significantly increased due to rising house demand in good school districts during
school vacation.
Nationwide apartment rental prices

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Annual Annual Annual Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Dec Jan Jan4 Jan111 Jan181 Jan251
1
Nationwide 7.6 1.9 0.8 4.5 -1.3 0.9 2.8 2.0 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.09 0.13 0.13 0.19
Seoul 11.5 2.2 -1.8 8.1 -0.8 1.8 4.7 2.3 0.8 0.4 0.6 0.13 0.19 0.22 0.26
Gangnam2 11.3 0.5 -3.6 10.4 -0.1 2.4 5.1 2.7 1.0 0.5 0.9 0.20 0.29 0.29 0.35
Gangbuk 3
11.8 4.6 0.5 5.4 -1.6 1.0 4.2 1.9 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.04 0.07 0.13 0.14
Seoul metropolitan area 11.7 2.1 -0.4 5.6 -1.8 1.4 4.1 1.8 0.7 0.1 0.3 0.05 0.10 0.10 0.15
5 metropolitan cities 3.0 1.1 1.6 3.9 -0.9 0.4 1.9 2.6 1.1 0.7 0.7 0.18 0.23 0.22 0.30
1. Weekly trends 2. Upscale area of Southern Seoul 3. Northern Seoul Source: Kookmin Bank
Apartment sales transactions in December slightly increased from 81,589 a month earlier to
post 81,961. The transactions were up 43.1 percent from a year earlier and down 1.6 percent
compared with the monthly average recorded in the same month for the past 3 years.
Apartment sales transactions

(Monthly average, thousand)
2006 2007 2008 2009
Annual Dec Annual Dec Annual Dec Annual Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nationwide 94 117 84 76 74 57 77 49 60 79 76 72 81 91 81 90 87 82 82
Source: Korea Land Corporation
38 February 2010
12-1 Real estate prices
Source: Kookmin Bank (national housing price trend)
12-2 Weekly apartment sales prices and monthly transaction volume

Source: Kookmin Bank (weekly APT price trend) & Korea Land Corporation (monthly land trade trend)
12-3 Apartment prices by region

Source: Kookmin Bank (national housing price trend)
12.2 Land market
Continuing the moderate recovery pace since April 2009, nationwide land prices in
December rose 0.34 percent, slightly accelerating from the previous month.
Land prices in Seoul metropolitan area (up 0.38%) continued to rise faster than the
nationwide average prices (up 0.34%). In particular, Incheon and Gyeonggi province
continued to post high price increases rising by 0.63 percent and 0.46 percent, respectively.
Land price increases in Seoul metropolitan area(m-o-m, %)

0.41 (Sep 2009) 0.37 (Oct) 0.36 (Nov) 0.38 (Dec)
In addition, price increases in areas excluding the Seoul metropolitan area, especially North
Gyeongsang province (up 0.43%) and Daegu (up 0.40%), accelerated the growth pace, rising
by 0.26 percent.
Land price increases in areas excluding the Seoul metropolitan area (m-o-m, %)
0.12 (Sep 2009) 0.16 (Oct) 0.21 (Nov) 0.26 (Dec)
Land prices by region

2007 2008 2009
Annual Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Oct Nov Dec
Nationwide 3.88 0.91 1.15 -0.31 1.23 1.46 1.18 -4.08 0.96 -1.20 0.35 0.88 0.30 0.30 0.34
Seoul 5.88 1.40 1.90 -1.00 1.83 2.17 1.59 -6.34 1.40 -1.38 0.68 1.30 0.30 0.24 0.27
Gyeonggi 4.22 1.05 1.14 -0.26 1.28 1.57 1.28 -4.28 1.22 -1.62 0.37 1.13 0.42 0.47 0.46
Incheon 4.86 1.12 1.13 1.37 1.36 1.67 2.01 -3.57 1.99 -1.39 0.53 1.16 0.51 0.55 0.63
Nationwide land transactions in December expanded 48.9 percent from a year earlier to
241,000 land lots. For the full year of 2009, land transactions were down 2.7 percent year-
on-year.
Nationwide land transactions excluding Daegu (down 4.2%) increased year-on-year.

Particularly, land transactions in Gyeonggi province (up 85.5%), South Chungcheong
province (up 71.7%) and Busan (up 71.3%) soared.
Land sales transactions

(Monthly average, land lot, thousand)
2007 2008 2009
Annual Annual Dec Annual Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nationwide 208 208 162 203 134 164 207 207 192 215 222 206 226 212 207 241
Seoul 33 26 13 22 13 15 20 24 22 27 26 25 28 25 19 21
Gyeonggi 49 45 31 46 26 34 41 48 45 49 50 48 56 52 48 58
Incheon 13 13 8 10 7 7 9 10 9 10 11 10 13 14 11 12
40 February 2010
12-4 Land and consumer prices since 1970s
Source: Korea Land Corporation (land prices) & Statistics Korea (consumer prices)
12-5 Land prices by region

Source: Korea Land Corporation (land price trend)
12-6 Land trade volume

Source: Korea Land Corporation (land trade trend)
13. Composite indices of business cycle indicators
The cyclical indicator of coincident composite index was down 0.3 points in December, 2009.
Three out of all components of the index including the service activity index decreased.
Meanwhile, the wholesale & retail sales index, the domestic shipment index, and the mining
& manufacturing production index were up.
Components of coincident composite index in December 2009 (m-o-m)

Wholesale & retail sales index (0.6%), domestic shipment index (0.5%), mining & manufacturing production
index (0.3%), volume of imports (0.3%), number of non-farm payroll employment (0.0%), manufacturing
operation ratio index (-0.2%), value of construction completed (-0.3%), service activity index (-0.4%)
The 12-month smoothed change in leading composite index increased 0.2 percentage points
month-on-month, running on an upward track since January 2009.
The indicator of inventory cycle, the volume of capital goods imports, the ratio of job
openings to job seekers and the liquidity in the financial institutions were up.
Components of the leading composite index in December 2009 (m-o-m)

Indicator of inventory cycle (5.6%p), volume of capital goods imports (1.3%), ratio of job openings to job
seekers (0.6%p), liquidity in the financial institutions (0.1%), net terms of trade index (0.0%), spreads between
long & short term interest rates (-0.1%p), consumer expectations index (-0.2%p), value of construction
orders received (-0.3%), composite stock price index (-0.6%), value of machinery orders received (-1.1%)
2009
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov1 Dec1
Coincident composite index (m-o-m, %) 1.2 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2
Cyclical indicator of coincident composite index 96.2 96.7 96.9 96.9 96.9 96.6
(m-o-m, p) 0.8 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.0 -0.3
Leading composite index (m-o-m, %) 1.4 1.0 0.7 1.1 1.4 0.6
12 month smoothed change
7.8 9.1 10.1 11.3 12.6 12.8
in leading composite index (%)
(m-o-m, %p) 2.0 1.3 1.0 1.2 1.3 0.2
1. Preliminary
42 February 2010
13-1 Cyclical indicator of coincident composite index
13-2 Leading composite index

13-3 Coincident and leading composite indices

Policy Issues
The National Strategy Meeting on Employment &
Job Creating Policies
Background
The employment situation in 2009 did not keep up with the economic recovery, partly due to
the late refection of economic conditions on employment. However, this caused the real
economic sentiment of the Korean people to remain low, making sustainable economic
rebound arguable. Against this backdrop, the Korean government put the first policy priority
in 2010 on job creation, focusing both on short-term measures to create jobs and long-term
measures to transform the economy into a more employment-friendly one. The National
Strategy Meeting on Employment, which will be held every month until the end of 2010, will
serve as a center where all governmental ability convenes to improve the employment
situation.
The National Strategy Meeting on Employment
The National Strategy Meeting on Employment, presided over by the president and
participated in by those from related ministries, government agencies, political parties,
Cheong Wa Dae (office of the president) and the private sector, deals with a wide range of
job creating policies from laying out job creating measures, to finding ways to most
effectively implement the measures, and to how to assess the effect of such measures. The
meeting is supported by three task force teams, each of which is in charge of 1) creating jobs
in the public sector and improving labor markets, 2) developing the service sector and
promoting investment, and 3) job training and education. The pool of experts from the
private sector serves as a policy consulting committee.
Key policies
Short-terms measures, which will be adopted for a limited period of time, focus on
motivating employment through financial incentives including tax breaks, while mid- and
long- term measures on a paradigm shift of the country’s economy to achieve economic
growth with job creation.
44 February 2010
To help create jobs in a sustainable manner, the government will reform existing regulations
to become more employment-friendly, and push toward deregulating service industries, as
they are expected to create more jobs than other industries. The reform will also be directed
to upgrade the labor market to be more flexible and secure, and to raise quality workers by
providing right training and education.
Short-term measures
Short-terms measures involve 1) linking job seekers and companies with job openings, 2)
running programs which facilitate employment such as job brokering, training, and start-up
consulting, and 3) providing financial incentives.
To link small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suffering workforce shortages with job
seekers, the government will expand Work-net, the state-run job portal, to cover information
on job seekers in addition to information on college and professional high school graduates
currently available. The number of job openings accessible through the portal’s data base is
expected to increase from 30,000 to 100,000.
To meet the needs of those seeking different kinds of employment, the government will run
three kinds of programs: 1) Those who want to be employed at present will access job
opening information by private job agencies more easily, as the government will increase the
number of private job agencies with the state certification, support setting up a computer
network between public and private job agencies, and offer financial incentives to private
agencies when they link job seekers and job positions through the network. 2) For those
who want job training, the government planned to support education fees and living
expenses, the latter of which will be loaned from Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare
Service at a low rate. Private institutions will be main trainers, and trainees will receive the
education fee support of up to 2 million won a year. 3) Those who want to start businesses
are eligible for consulting services as well as financial support. One trillion won of venture
fund will be established in 2010 to finance promising venture enterprises.
Government’s financial incentives to promote employment include incentives given to those

getting jobs in SMEs through the state-run data base, 50 percent of six month salaries of
those newly employed without college education given to companies if they recruit them as
trainees, and 50 percent of one year salaries of those newly employed with higher than
master’s degrees in science and engineering given to venture companies.
Tax deduction will be offered to SMEs employing more workers than the previous year,
which will be effective until the first half of 2011 and also available for new enterprises.
SMEs increasing total number of employees will have a higher priority in government’s
financial support. Public institutions will be allowed to recruit part time.
The government will continue its efforts to create jobs in the public sector with projects such
as housing construction for low income brackets and the four river restoration project. Job
creating measures such as Hope Employment Program will be implemented in the first half.
Mid-and long-term measures
For the Korean economy to create jobs in a sustainable manner, the government will pursue
developing industries with higher job creating potential, upgrading services markets,
developing quality work force needed by businesses, and reforming labor markets.
Industries with higher job creating potential, in particular parts manufacturing and skill-
intensive industries, will receive more financial support from the government. Regulations
on establishing enterprises will be eased, along with the ban on location being lifted. The
Korean government will nurture SMEs and help them develop into strong enterprises, as the
country owes 90 percent of total employment to SMEs.
Services markets, in particular those of medical, education, day care and welfare services,
will be deregulated, and the entrance barrier will be lowered. Although deregulated and
more open, the services industry will be controlled with reasonable but strict standards. The
practice of telemedicine will be allowed to found a basis for ubiquitous health care.
To address problems stemming from supply and demand mismatch of labor force, the
government will involve industries in college education: Companies will be allowed to
participate in college job training programs, locate their research centers on campus, and
build a research complex both for industrial and academic purposes.
Flextime and a wage-peak system will be adopted in the labor market, aiming to diversify
labor forces and reduce the burden of companies.
Expected effects
The short-term measures are expected to add 0.2 percentage points to the original forecast
of the employment rate, 58.5 percent, as more than 50,000 jobs will be created additionally,
making the total increase more than 250,000. The mid- and long-term target is to raise the
employment rate to the pre-Asian financial crisis level of 60 percent within 10 years, with the
economy creating 40,000 - 50,000 jobs every year.
46 February 2010
Economic
News Briefing
Korean economy grows 0.2% in Q4 (Advance)
Korea’s real GDP expanded by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with the
previous quarter. From a year earlier, the fourth quarter GDP increased by 6.0 percent.
On the production side, the manufacturing and construction sectors decreased quarter-on-
quarter by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, services rose by 1.0 percent
from the previous quarter, mainly led by growth in the transportation & storage and financial
& insurance services.
On the expenditure side, private consumption decreased by 0.1 percent from a quarter earlier
mainly due to reduced spending on semi-durable goods, while facility investment increased
by 4.7 percent on the back of expanded machinery investment. Exports of goods declined by
1.8 percent and goods imports shrank by 2.5 percent.
GDP by production and expenditure*
2008 1
20091
Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Annual Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
1.1 0.4 0.2 -5.1 0.1 2.6 3.2 0.2
GDP 2.2 0.2
(5.5)2 (4.3) (3.1) (-3.4) (-4.2) (-2.2) (0.9) (6.0)
Agriculture, forestry 1.0
5.5 5.8 0.8 0.6 -0.1 1.6 -0.1 -1.7 4.9
and fishery (2.8)
Manufacturing 3.1 1.2 1.7 0.1 -11.9 -1.8 -3.4 8.9 9.8 -1.3(12.5)
Construction -2.4 -1.4 -2.2 1.1 -4.2 1.9 5.9 -0.2 -0.5 -1.4(3.8)
Services 3
2.5 0.8 0.1 0.5 -1.4 1.0 0.3 1.1 0.7 1.0(3.1)
Private consumption 0.9 1.1 -0.2 0.0 -4.6 0.2 0.4 3.6 1.5 -0.1(5.6)
Facility investment -2.0 -0.4 0.4 0.2 -14.2 -8.9 -11.2 10.1 10.4 4.7(12.9)
Construction investment -2.1 -2.5 -0.3 0.1 -3.0 3.1 5.2 1.7 -2.0 0.0(3.9)
Goods exports 4
4.1 -0.7 2.5 -0.9 -12.6 -0.6 -3.4 14.7 5.2 -1.8(14.6)
Goods imports 4
4.6 0.1 3.0 1.2 -15.7 -8.5 -6.2 7.4 8.6 -2.5(6.7)
Domestic demand 1.4 1.0 0.3 0.8 -7.3 -4.2 -2.6 1.3 4.1 1.0(3.7)
*At 2005 chained prices, seasonally adjusted terms
1. Preliminary
2. Figures in parenthesis denote percentage changes from the same period in the previous year in original terms.
3. Wholesale & retail sales, hotels & restaurants, transportation & storage, communication services, financial & insurance services, real estate & renting,
business services, public administration, defense & social security, educational services, healthcare & social welfare services, entertainment, cultural & sports
services and other services are included.
4. FOB basis
Korea and India agree to forge strategic partnership
On January 25, 2010, President Lee Myung-bak and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
held a summit in India and agreed to boost bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership”
from the current “long-term cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity”.
Korea and India explored ways to enhance bilateral collaborations in various fields including
foreign affairs, economy and commerce, as well as science and technology. The two sides
agreed to open a vice ministerial-level dialogue on foreign affairs and security issues. The two
leaders also agreed to expand bilateral trade to reach US$30 billion by 2014. In particular,
both countries reaffirmed to stimulate cooperation in a range of IT industries including e-
government systems, cyber security, hardware manufacturing and software development.
Meanwhile, the leaders shared the view that nuclear energy can play an important role as a
safe, sustainable and non-polluting source of energy. President Lee noted that Korea hopes
to participate in India’s construction of nuclear power plants.
On the sideline of the summit, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) on the transfer of prisoners, cooperation in the IT sector, scientific and technological
collaboration, and the peaceful use of outer space.
48 February 2010
Korea presents deregulation measures to improve business environment
As part of continued efforts to foster a business friendly environment, the government
announced on January 14 the fourth round of deregulation measures, after having redressed
175 grievances and regulations facing enterprises with the implementation of previous
rounds of measures unveiled in June and September 2008 as well as in July 2009. The 2-year
limit on the hiring period for non-regular workers shall be applied more flexibly by June 2010
with part time instructors at universities and research workers exempted from it, for
example. Labor laws will be revised by June 2010 to remove redundant requirements for
corporate document.
Uncertainties related to taxes and customs will be lifted first of all to avoid the necessity for
tax audits. The government also aims to raise the utilization rate of the Internet customs
clearance system to 100 percent by 2012 in order to improve efficiency. As for the patent
system, the government will support enterprises in dealing with international disputes of
patent infringements and establish an environment to protect intellectual property rights.
The government’s financial supports will be expanded for small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs), which develop new products under sales agreement with conglomerates
and public institutions. To help firms reduce the cost of fund raising, the government will
improve the repo (repurchase agreement) system by June 2010, lowering the limit of bond
grades eligible for repo transactions in the Korea Exchange (KRX) market from AAA to AA as
well as making transactions available for 2-day and 4-day repos. The basis will be
established to accumulate and manage overall information on companies’ loan default and
recovery ratios. In addition, the process and period required to establish a company will be
reduced from the current 8 steps and 14 days to 4 steps and 7 days by June 2010.
Korea introduces “Financial Investor Express Card”

The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Ministry of Justice and the FN Hub Korea of the
Financial Supervisory Service (the Center) have agreed to issue the “Financial Investor
Express Card”, which grants privileges to use fast-track immigration counters to foreign
executives working at Korean branches of foreign financial institutions. Under the current
system, only foreign executives working at local offices of foreign investment companies and
the holders of the Investor Express Card have been eligible for the express procedure.
The issuance of the Financial Investor Express Card aims at reflecting the contribution of
local branches of foreign financial firms to the Korean economy and attracting more foreign
investment from overseas financial institutions. The card will be issued to deputy managers
or higher executives, holding a supervisory intra-company transfer (D-7) visa, of Korean
branches of foreign financial companies with an operation fund worth 7 billion won or more.
In addition, the Center published the “Visa & Immigration Guide for Foreign Employees of
Financial Institutions” for foreign employees of financial institutions and their families. The
guidebook covers the definition of visa, visa issuance procedure as well as foreigners’ stay
in Korea, and provides information on the Center’s support services for immigration and visa
issues.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the Invest Korea and the Korea Industrial
Complex Corporation launched an online system, which provides detailed information in
English about investment opportunities in Korea’s major industrial sites. Users can search
300 promising industrial complexes in Korea, and get information on more than 3,000
companies in major industrial complexes and nearby areas.
Banks’ overall bad loans ratio falls to meet the target

The ratio of domestic banks’ bad loans classified as sub-standard or below (SBLs) compared
to the total outstanding loans averaged 0.99 percent as of the end of 2009 to meet their
target ratio after excluding 3 trillion won in debt obligations that arose in December from the
unexpected workout of the affiliates of the Kumho Group and some shipbuilders.
Since August 2009, domestic financial authorities have been encouraging banks to lower
their SBL ratios, in principle, to 1 percent by end-December 2009. The SBLs that arose in
December have been set aside to reflect the time constraints to their resolution through
sales, dispositions or other means by year-end.
Banks’ end-2009 SBL ratio including the large restructuring debt of 3 trillion won in
December was 1.22 percent, dropping sharply by 0.29 percentage points from 1.51 percent
as of the end of June 2009.
Banks’ SBLs and SBL ratio

(end-period)
2007 2008 2009
Dec1
Annual Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep
Excl.2 Incl.3
Bad loans ratio4 (%) 0.72 0.79 0.70 0.82 1.14 1.47 1.51 1.48 0.99 1.22
Amount of bad loans
7.7 8.9 8.3 10.4 14.7 19.3 19.6 19.2 12.7 15.7
(trillion won)
1. Preliminary
2. Excluding new resources of substandard or below loans (SBLs) arising in December 2009 from the workout of Kumho Industrial, Kumho Tires, SLS Shipbuilding,
21st Century Shipbuilding, and others
3. Including new resources of SBLs arising in December 2009
4. The ratio of SBLs compared to total outstanding loans
50 February 2010
The SBL ratios of both corporate and household loans each fell by 0.33 and 0.16 percentage
points in the second half of 2009 to 1.58 percent and 0.48 percent. The SBL ratio of small-
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was 1.82 percent, falling by a significant 0.67
percentage points during the same period. Meanwhile, the SBL ratios of household and
mortgage loans were 0.48 percent and 0.37 percent, respectively, the lowest levels for both
since figures began to be kept in March 2002 and December 2005.
Bad loan ratio1 by loan type

(end-period)
2007 2008 2009 2
Annual Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec2

Corporate loans 0.80 0.88 0.78 0.93 1.41 1.82 1.91 1.90 1.58
- SME loans 0.99 1.13 1.06 1.34 1.93 2.46 2.49 2.38 1.82
Household loans 0.54 0.58 0.50 0.53 0.54 0.68 0.64 0.60 0.48
- Mortgage loans 0.44 0.46 0.38 0.40 0.42 0.51 0.48 0.45 0.37
Credit card receivable 0.96 1.01 0.99 1.10 1.16 1.41 1.52 1.37 1.06
1. The ratio of substandard or below loans (SBLs) compared to total outstanding loans
2. Preliminary
Korea aims at US$12 billion overseas resources development in 2010

Domestic public and private companies are expected to invest a record high of US$12.2
billion in overseas resources in 2010, said the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on January
20. The increased investment will boost Korea’s energy self-sufficiency, allowing to produce
more than 10 percent of its total oil and gas consumption this year.
Public firms will invest more than US$8 billion in major projects including acquisitions of
foreign oil companies and oil fields. The Korea Oil Corporation, for instance, plans to spend
at least US$6.5 billion in overseas M&As. The Korea Gas Corporation will spend some US$1
billion in oil field development in Iraq.
According to the ministry, private investment is also expected to expand to reach US$3.9
billion, up from US$1.09 billion last year. The ministry said enhanced financial support is
encouraging private companies to invest more. Roughly 85 percent of low-rate government
loans earmarked for overseas resources investments will be given to private companies this
year versus 73 percent last year.
Korea unveils a smart grid roadmap to “Low Carbon, Green Growth”

Korea plans to create a nationwide smart grid by 2030, announced the Ministry of
Knowledge Economy on January 25. A smart grid refers to a two-way network interconnecting
electricity suppliers and consumers using digital technology that reduces cost, saves energy
and increases reliability.
The government aims to provide 27,000 battery chargers by 2030. A special bill for a full-
fledged support to the project will be made to pass the National Assembly this year. In
addition, standards for smart grid technologies will be developed from the pilot project,
which started late last year on Jeju Island to check smart grid’s viability.
Korea may spend 27.5 trillion won (US$24 billion) by 2030 on smart grids for which the
government plans to spend 2.7 trillion won to support the development of core
technologies, create markets for related new products and help establish public
infrastructure. The government’s initiative would encourage private players such as utilities
companies, developers of renewable energy and battery makers to invest an estimated 24.8
trillion won.
The project is predicted to create fresh demand valued at 74 trillion won (US$65 billion), cut
greenhouse gas emissions by 230 million ton, save 47 trillion won (US$41 billion) in energy
imports, and create an annual average of 50,000 jobs by 2030.
52 February 2010
Statistical
Appendices
Tables & Figures
2. Production, shipment and inventory
3. Production capacity and operation ratio
4. Consumer goods sales index
5. Consumer goods shipment index and consumer sentiment index
6. Machinery orders received, domestic machinery shipment,
and estimated facility investment index
7. Value of construction completed and domestic construction orders received
8. Composite indices of business cycle indicators and BSI
9. Balance of payments (I)
10. Balance of payments (II)
11. Prices
12. Employment
13. Financial indicators
14. Monetary indicators
15. Exchange rates
(year-on-year change, %, chained 2005 year prices)
Real GDP Gross fixed capital formation

Final
Period consumption
Agri., fores. expenditure
Manufacturing Construction Facilities
& fisheries
2002 7.2 -2.2 8.7 8.1 7.1 6.2 7.3

2003 2.8 -5.4 5.4 0.5 4.4 8.5 -1.5
2004 4.6 9.1 10.0 1.0 2.1 1.3 3.8
2005 4.0 1.3 6.2 4.6 1.9 -0.4 5.3
2006 5.2 1.5 8.1 5.1 3.4 0.5 8.2
2007 5.1 4.0 7.2 5.1 4.2 1.4 9.3
2008P 2.2 5.5 3.1 1.6 -1.7 -2.1 -2.0
2009P 0.2 1.6 -1.8 1.3 -0.9 3.1 -8.9
2002 I 6.6 2.3 5.1 10.3 7.5 11.4 2.6

II 7.0 -2.4 7.2 9.1 7.9 7.2 7.7
III 6.8 -1.1 9.3 7.7 3.2 -1.5 9.8
IV 8.1 -5.5 13.1 5.7 9.6 9.4 9.1
2003 I 3.5 0.7 5.4 2.0 5.1 8.2 2.9

II 1.8 -1.6 3.1 0.3 4.7 8.4 -0.7
III 2.0 -9.6 4.3 0.0 2.8 8.3 -5.8
IV 3.9 -8.0 8.5 -0.4 5.0 9.0 -2.2
2004 I 5.2 8.2 10.9 -0.1 2.3 5.3 -0.6

II 5.9 7.6 12.9 1.3 4.9 4.2 6.4
III 4.8 8.3 10.4 1.0 3.1 1.2 7.7
IV 2.7 11.6 6.2 1.8 -1.4 -3.5 1.8
2005 I 2.7 0.4 4.8 2.7 -0.3 -3.1 3.4

II 3.4 4.8 3.9 4.7 1.8 0.9 2.8
III 4.5 3.8 6.7 5.9 1.5 -0.3 4.1
IV 5.1 -3.1 9.3 4.9 3.9 0.3 10.8
2006 I 6.1 3.9 9.4 5.8 3.8 1.9 7.2

II 5.1 -0.3 9.1 4.9 0.1 -4.2 8.0
III 5.0 -1.4 8.7 4.6 4.0 -0.5 12.0
IV 4.6 4.2 5.4 5.1 5.7 5.1 5.7
2007 I 4.5 1.6 4.5 5.1 7.3 4.4 12.6

II 5.3 7.0 7.2 5.4 5.7 2.0 13.0
III 4.9 8.2 6.3 5.3 1.5 -0.2 4.0
IV 5.7 -0.7 10.2 4.7 3.1 0.4 8.0
2008P I 5.5 7.4 9.1 3.9 -0.5 -1.9 1.5

II 4.3 4.4 8.4 2.6 0.6 -0.3 1.1
III 3.1 4.2 5.6 2.0 1.8 0.2 4.3
IV -3.4 6.4 -9.1 -1.9 -7.3 -5.6 -14.0
2009P I -4.2 1.5 -13.6 -2.0 -8.1 1.6 -23.5

II -2.2 -1.2 -7.3 0.9 -2.7 3.7 -15.9
III 0.9 3.1 1.6 1.7 -0.8 2.7 -7.4
IV 6.0 2.8 12.5 4.5 6.4 3.9 12.9
P: Preliminary
54 February 2010
Growth rate by economic activity
Growth rate by expenditure on GDP
2. Production, shipment and inventory See graphs 6-1, 6-3, 7-1, 7-2 & 7-3
(constant prices, 2005 = 100)
Service
Production Shipment Inventory
Period Y-o-Y Y-o-Y Y-o-Y production Y-o-Y
index index index
change (%) change (%) change (%) index change (%)
2008 119.4 3.0 118.1 2.4 125.7 7.3 116.1 3.4

2009 P 118.6 -0.7 116.1 -1.7 116.3 -7.5 118.0 1.7
2008 I 121.6 10.9 119.6 9.1 123.7 8.5 113.8 6.7

II 125.1 8.9 122.8 6.6 133.1 16.2 116.5 4.8
III 119.2 5.6 117.8 5.3 132.2 17.3 116.2 3.2
IV 111.9 -11.3 112.1 -10.1 125.7 7.3 117.6 -0.4
2009 I 102.7 -15.5 102.0 -14.7 116.5 -5.8 113.3 -0.4

II 117.4 -6.2 115.7 -5.8 110.9 -16.7 118.4 1.6
III 124.2 4.2 120.3 2.1 113.8 -13.9 118.7 2.2
IVP 129.9 16.1 126.5 12.8 116.3 -7.5 121.5 3.3
2008 1 126.0 11.7 121.7 10.3 123.9 4.5 114.2 7.8

2 110.9 10.7 109.7 7.9 124.4 7.6 109.3 6.3
3 127.8 10.5 127.3 9.0 123.7 8.5 118.0 5.9
4 126.1 10.8 124.5 8.6 124.8 11.6 116.3 6.3
5 126.1 8.9 123.5 6.5 128.9 12.9 117.7 5.0
6 123.1 7.0 120.3 4.7 133.1 16.2 115.5 3.0
7 123.1 8.6 121.5 7.9 132.4 14.5 116.8 4.2
8 115.8 1.8 114.5 1.8 132.3 14.4 115.1 1.9
9 118.6 6.3 117.3 6.1 132.2 17.3 116.8 3.5
10 126.2 -1.9 124.0 -1.8 135.1 17.5 116.9 1.4
11 110.0 -13.8 109.5 -13.2 133.4 16.1 113.9 -1.5
12 99.6 -18.7 102.8 -15.5 125.7 7.3 121.9 -1.2
2009 1 93.9 -25.5 93.2 -23.4 124.4 0.4 113.0 -1.1

2 99.8 -10.0 99.5 -9.3 118.1 -5.1 109.6 0.3
3 114.4 -10.5 113.2 -11.1 116.5 -5.8 117.2 -0.7
4 115.8 -8.2 114.5 -8.0 112.6 -9.8 118.5 1.9
5 114.7 -9.0 112.8 -8.7 111.4 -13.6 118.1 0.3
6 121.7 -1.1 119.8 -0.4 110.9 -16.7 118.7 2.8
7 124.0 0.7 119.9 -1.3 112.7 -14.9 117.9 0.9
8 117.0 1.0 113.4 -1.0 113.5 -14.2 116.2 1.0
9 131.7 11.0 127.7 8.9 113.8 -13.9 121.9 4.4
10 126.6 0.3 123.2 -0.6 113.3 -16.1 118.4 1.3
11P 129.7 17.9 126.5 15.5 114.3 -14.3 117.9 3.5
12P 133.4 33.9 129.7 26.2 116.3 -7.5 128.3 5.3
P: Preliminary
56 February 2010
3. Production capacity and operation ratio See graph 6-2
Production Operation Average

Period capacity index Y-o-Y ratio index Y-o-Y operation
(2005=100) change (%) (2005=100) change (%) ratio (%)
2008 115.4 5.2 96.8 -3.6 77.2

2009 P 118.6 2.8 93.2 -3.7 74.1
2008 I 114.0 6.0 98.9 1.7 80.8

II 115.3 6.5 102.7 0.1 80.4
III 116.0 5.3 95.1 -1.1 78.3
IV 116.5 3.5 90.6 -14.1 69.3
2009 I 116.9 2.5 80.7 -18.4 65.8

II 117.5 1.9 94.3 -8.2 73.7
III 119.3 2.8 97.5 2.5 78.9
IVP 120.7 3.6 100.2 10.6 78.2
2008 1 113.8 6.2 102.9 3.1 81.3

2 113.8 5.9 89.2 1.1 80.2
3 114.3 6.1 104.6 1.0 80.9
4 114.7 6.3 104.2 2.7 81.0
5 115.5 6.7 103.0 -0.9 80.0
6 115.7 6.2 100.8 -1.7 80.2
7 115.7 5.5 99.4 1.1 79.2
8 116.0 5.3 91.9 -4.9 78.4
9 116.2 4.9 94.1 0.3 77.3
10 116.3 3.6 103.8 -5.1 77.3
11 116.3 3.4 89.1 -17.0 68.4
12 116.8 3.4 78.9 -20.9 62.3
2009 1 116.8 2.6 72.9 -29.2 61.4

2 116.9 2.7 78.8 -11.7 66.9
3 117.1 2.4 90.4 -13.6 69.2
4 117.2 2.2 93.1 -10.7 71.5
5 117.2 1.5 92.2 -10.5 72.9
6 118.2 2.2 97.5 -3.3 76.6
7 118.8 2.7 98.4 -1.0 78.7
8 119.2 2.8 90.9 -1.1 77.7
9 119.9 3.2 103.3 9.8 80.2
10 120.2 3.4 99.0 -4.6 77.3
11P 120.4 3.5 100.5 12.8 77.3
12P 121.4 3.9 101.0 28.0 79.9
P: Preliminary
4. Consumer goods sales index See graphs 2-2, 2-3, 2-4 & 2-5
(constant prices, 2005 = 100)
Consumer
goods
Period Durable Semi-durable Non-durable
sales
Y-o-Y goods Y-o-Y goods Y-o-Y goods Y-o-Y
index
change (%) change (%) change (%) change (%)
2008 110.4 1.0 127.1 1.9 105.5 -2.4 109.3 0.7

2009 P 113.4 2.7 136.6 7.5 106.5 0.9 110.9 1.5
2008 I 111.3 4.4 131.0 9.5 103.7 3.8 108.6 1.9

Il 111.4 2.9 135.5 8.7 107.8 -2.1 107.9 0.3
III 108.6 1.4 126.0 0.0 94.7 0.6 111.8 1.2
IV 110.3 -4.2 115.9 -9.9 115.8 -9.9 109.0 -0.4
2009 I 105.9 -4.9 113.2 -13.6 102.8 -0.9 107.1 -1.4

II 113.2 1.6 140.9 4.0 108.1 0.3 109.0 1.0
III 112.3 3.4 138.5 9.9 94.9 0.2 114.0 2.0
IVP 122.0 10.6 153.7 32.6 120.2 3.8 113.5 4.1
2008 1 111.7 5.2 129.5 9.1 104.5 6.6 108.1 3.5

2 107.2 3.5 118.7 6.7 97.3 6.3 107.9 0.5
3 115.1 4.5 144.8 12.4 109.2 -0.9 109.8 1.6
4 113.0 6.0 140.6 16.7 109.2 -2.1 108.1 3.0
5 114.8 3.1 137.6 8.8 112.5 -3.2 111.7 1.3
6 106.3 -0.7 128.2 1.1 101.8 -0.7 103.9 -3.3
7 109.3 4.1 141.1 8.1 98.0 3.8 105.7 0.4
8 105.9 2.2 121.5 -4.3 87.1 8.9 111.4 1.6
9 110.5 -1.9 115.4 -4.2 99.1 -8.1 118.2 1.3
10 109.5 -3.4 124.4 -0.3 112.5 -9.2 105.8 -3.2
11 108.6 -4.7 109.0 -15.6 121.2 -6.8 107.0 0.4
12 112.8 -4.5 114.4 -13.2 113.8 -13.6 114.3 1.9
2009 1 108.0 -3.3 102.5 -20.8 103.2 -1.2 113.6 5.1

2 100.7 -6.1 114.3 -3.7 96.8 -0.5 98.8 -8.4
3 109.1 -5.2 122.9 -15.1 108.4 -0.7 108.8 -0.9
4 108.6 -3.9 123.7 -12.0 110.0 0.7 107.0 -1.0
5 116.6 1.6 142.8 3.8 113.5 0.9 112.5 0.7
6 114.3 7.5 156.3 21.9 100.7 -1.1 107.5 3.5
7 111.3 1.8 141.3 0.1 95.8 -2.2 110.9 4.9
8 107.9 1.9 128.8 6.0 87.3 0.2 112.6 1.1
9 117.8 6.6 145.5 26.1 101.7 2.6 118.6 0.3
10 120.2 9.8 143.8 15.6 116.5 3.6 116.4 10.0
11P 119.3 9.9 152.2 39.6 121.9 0.6 109.0 1.9
12P 126.5 12.1 165.2 44.4 122.2 7.4 115.1 0.7
P: Preliminary
58 February 2010
5. Consumer goods shipment index and consumer sentiment index
See graph 2-6
Domestic consumer
goods shipment index Consumer
Period (2005=100) Durable Non-durable sentiment index
Y-o-Y goods Y-o-Y goods Y-o-Y
change (%) change (%) change (%)
2008 114.6 1.4 126.6 1.7 109.8 1.3 -

2009P 114.8 0.2 133.8 5.7 107.1 -2.5 -
2008 I 117.3 5.6 132.5 10.6 111.3 3.4 -

II 115.7 4.2 136.4 11.3 107.5 1.0 -
III 113.5 2.0 123.0 0.1 109.7 2.8 -
IV 111.8 -5.8 114.5 -13.8 110.7 -2.0 -
2009 I 105.9 -9.7 112.8 -14.9 103.2 -7.3 -

II 113.1 -2.2 137.9 1.1 103.2 -4.0 -
III 118.4 4.3 137.6 11.9 110.7 0.9 -
IV P 121.6 8.8 146.8 28.2 111.4 0.6 -
2008 1 125.2 9.0 131.5 11.4 122.7 8.0 -

2 106.4 2.0 122.4 7.7 100.0 -0.5 -
3 120.3 5.4 143.5 12.3 111.1 2.3 -
4 119.8 7.3 144.0 20.1 110.1 1.7 -
5 115.8 2.5 136.9 9.3 107.4 -0.6 -
6 111.6 2.9 128.2 4.7 105.0 2.0 -
7 117.6 7.2 134.2 8.0 111.0 6.8 84
8 111.3 -1.4 118.8 -5.0 108.3 0.2 96
9 111.5 0.2 116.0 -2.9 109.7 1.6 96
10 119.5 -1.7 127.8 -6.3 116.2 0.4 88
11 107.0 -9.3 111.0 -15.8 105.5 -6.1 84
12 108.8 -6.5 104.6 -19.7 110.5 -0.4 81
2009 1 105.7 -15.6 99.0 -24.7 108.4 -11.7 84

2 102.3 -3.9 115.2 -5.9 97.2 -2.8 85
3 109.8 -8.7 124.3 -13.4 104.0 -6.4 84
4 110.5 -7.8 119.0 -17.4 107.1 -2.7 98
5 111.5 -3.7 138.6 1.2 100.6 -6.3 105
6 117.4 5.2 156.0 21.7 102.0 -2.9 106
7 117.6 0.0 143.7 7.1 107.1 -3.5 109
8 109.9 -1.3 124.6 4.9 104.0 -4.0 114
9 127.8 14.6 144.5 24.6 121.0 10.3 114
10 119.7 0.2 138.6 8.5 112.0 -3.6 117
11 118.3P 10.6P 146.0P 31.5P 107.1P 1.5P 113
12 126.7P 16.5P 155.9P 49.0P 115.0P 4.1P 113
2010 1 - - - - - - 113
P: Preliminary
Source: Statistics Korea & The Bank of Korea
6. Machinery orders received, domestic machinery shipment
and estimated facility investment index See graph 3-2
Domestic machinery orders received Domestic
Estimated
excluding ship (billion won, constant prices) machinery
facility investment
Period shipment
index
excluding ship
Total Public Private (2005=100)
Manufacturing (2005=100)
2008 23,798 2,309 21,488 12,809 113.0 114.5

2009P 21,759 3,753 18,006 9,654 103.9 109.2
2008 I 7,863 371 7,492 4,936 112.8 111.7
ll 6,088 535 5,552 3,140 121.2 120.6
III 5,474 354 5,121 2,947 113.7 113.9
IV 4,372 1,049 3,324 1,786 104.3 111.9
2009 I 5,205 931 4,274 2,083 92.8 98.1
ll 5,227 701 4,527 2,330 104.9 111.2
III 5,833 1,348 4,484 2,456 102.2 106.3
IVP 5,494 773 4,721 2,786 115.5 121.4
2008 1 3,110 148 3,661 2,032 107.8 106.3
2 2,339 68 2,271 1,571 104.2 102.9
3 2,414 155 2,259 1,332 126.4 125.9
4 2,043 95 1,947 1,137 122.6 119.6
5 1,863 89 1,775 913 122.5 122.1
6 2,182 352 1,830 1,090 118.4 120.0
7 2,372 179 2,193 1,239 118.9 119.6
8 1,688 87 1,602 965 113.3 108.3
9 1,414 88 1,326 743 108.9 113.8
10 1,711 399 1,312 754 105.8 112.5
11 1,259 207 1,053 555 103.6 108.2
12 1,402 444 959 478 103.5 115.1
2009 1 1,636 232 1,404 741 84.7 84.3
2 1,727 519 1,209 562 92.4 97.5
3 1,842 181 1,661 780 101.3 112.5
4 1,534 93 1,441 690 99.4 109.5
5 1,466 98 1,368 700 102.7 102.9
6 2,228 510 1,718 940 112.6 121.2
7 2,544 1,074 1,470 795 96.5 106.4
8 1,423 73 1,350 691 95.7 97.0
9 1,865 201 1,663 970 114.3 115.4
10 1,762 97 1,665 939 106.3 108.2
11P 1,986 430 1,555 985 115.1 115.4
12P 1,746 246 1,500 861 125.2 140.5
Y-o-Y change (%)
2008 -12.8 5.0 -14.3 -18.1 -4.3 0.0
2009 P -8.6 62.5 -16.2 -24.6 -8.1 -4.6
2008 I 22.7 9.7 23.5 44.6 -3.8 1.3
ll -0.5 84.7 -4.7 -7.4 -2.7 0.6
III -15.2 -26.9 -14.3 -23.7 3.0 6.5
IV -47.3 -3.5 -53.9 -64.0 -13.4 -7.4
2009 I -33.8 150.5 -42.9 -57.8 -17.7 -12.2
ll -14.1 30.9 -18.5 -25.8 -13.4 -7.8
III 6.5 281.3 -12.4 -16.7 -10.1 -6.7
IVP 25.6 -26.3 42.0 55.9 10.7 8.5
2008 1 51.2 67.3 50.5 78.7 -2.2 1.8
2 2.6 -54.7 6.6 26 -8.0 0.2
3 16.7 55.3 14.7 29.5 -1.5 1.6
4 5.0 3.2 5.1 5.9 -4.2 4.4
5 -6.4 -2.4 -6.6 -13.6 -1.1 -0.8
6 0.0 229.6 -11.8 -13.7 -2.7 -1.7
7 17.0 5.3 18.1 12.0 7.0 7.1
8 -9.0 -32.2 -7.3 -1.4 -0.9 2.6
9 -45.0 -52.8 -44.4 -58.2 2.9 10.0
10 -46.4 349.0 -57.7 -67.5 -6.2 -1.0
11 -52.6 -5 -56.8 -66.9 -14.9 -10.1
12 -42.8 -43.2 -42.7 -50.8 -18.4 -10.4
2009 1 -47.4 56.4 -52.6 -63.6 -21.4 -20.7
2 -26.2 660.1 -46.8 -64.2 -11.3 -5.2
3 -23.7 16.7 -26.5 -41.4 -19.9 -10.6
4 -24.9 -2.9 26 -39.3 -18.9 -8.4
5 -21.3 10.5 22.9 -23.4 -16.2 -15.7
6 2.1 45.1 -6.2 -13.8 -4.9 1.0
7 7.3 498.8 -32.9 -35.9 -18.8 -11.0
8 -15.7 -15.7 -15.7 -28.4 -15.5 -10.4
9 31.9 129.5 25.5 30.6 5.0 1.4
10 3.0 -75.7 26.9 24.5 0.5 -3.8
11P 57.7 108.8 47.7 77.7 11.1 6.7
12P 24.5 -44.6 56.5 80.3 21.0 22.1
P: Preliminary
60 February 2010
7. Value of construction completed and domestic construction
orders received See graphs 4-2 & 4-3
(current prices, billion won)
Value of Type of order Domestic Type of order

construction construction
Period
completed orders received
(total) Public Private (total) Public Private
2008 86,806 26,728 55,509 102,321 31,320 65,294

2009 P 90,055 32,420 52,662 104,121 49,522 50,712
2008 I 18,283 5,279 12,142 21,048 7,398 13,077
ll 22,158 6,568 14,367 25,995 6,056 19,171
III 22,317 6,503 14,712 17,061 4,691 10,795
IV 24,047 8,383 14,288 38,217 13,175 22,252
2009 I 19,115 6,562 11,536 17,567 9,024 8,055
ll 23,716 8,678 13,623 25,485 17,350 7,201
III 22,181 7,915 13,052 18,620 8,237 9,640
IV P 25,043 9,265 14,450 42,450 14,911 25,816
2008 1 6,074 1,716 4,072 6,275 1,907 4,166
2 5,473 1,519 3,698 6,152 2,048 3,887
3 6,736 2,040 4,372 8,621 3,442 5,024
4 7,026 1,967 4,636 7,880 1,743 5,933
5 7,321 2,224 4,731 8,578 2,499 5,884
6 7,811 2,376 5,001 9,537 1,814 7,353
7 7,168 2,025 4,789 5,372 1,392 3,452
8 7,312 2,139 4,822 6,169 1,520 4,432
9 7,837 2,339 5,101 5,519 1,779 2,911
10 7,741 2,498 4,819 8,187 2,451 4,827
11 7,779 2,572 4,743 8,151 3,088 4,722
12 8,528 3,312 4,726 21,879 7,636 12,703
2009 1 6,048 2,149 3,608 5,333 2,552 2,514
2 6,129 2,036 3,782 4,880 2,695 2,079
3 6,937 2,377 4,147 7,354 3,778 3,462
4 7,451 2,643 4,415 7,249 5,610 1,260
5 7,271 2,611 4,232 6,988 4,295 2,573
6 8,995 3,423 4,977 11,247 7,445 3,369
7 7,005 2,380 4,249 5,527 2,947 2,362
8 6,734 2,443 3,923 4,352 1,713 2,569
9 8,442 3,092 4,879 8,741 3,576 4,709
10 7,339 2,620 4,355 10,415 4,650 5,616
11P 8,062 2,780 4,854 14,425 5,082 8,766
12P 9,642 3,865 5,241 17,611 5,179 11,434
Y-o-Y change (%)
2008 4.7 6.5 1.7 -9.0 9.1 -15.8
2009 P 3.7 21.3 -5.1 1.8 58.1 -22.3
2008 I 5.6 6.8 3.0 -3.7 17.4 -14.1
ll 6.1 3.5 4.6 -6.1 14.6 -4.7
III 10.6 6.6 10.5 -22.7 2.9 -32.3
IV -2.2 8.7 -9.1 -6.5 5.0 -15.3
2009 I 4.5 24.4 -5.0 -16.5 22.0 -38.4
ll 7.0 32.1 -5.2 -2.0 186.5 -62.4
III P -0.6 21.7 -11.3 9.1 75.6 -10.7
IV P 4.1 10.5 1.1 11.1 13.2 16.0
2008 1 10.5 16.5 5.6 -9.3 3.6 -15.0
2 3.1 -1.0 2.6 -7.0 2.1 -14.1
3 3.6 5.5 1.0 3.6 40.1 -13.4
4 4.2 2.4 2.6 -0.5 -5.6 3.4
5 7.5 5.0 5.9 16.4 50.7 16.0
6 6.6 3.1 5.3 -23.0 2.0 -21.0
7 8.7 3.2 9.2 -13.2 -9.2 -8.4
8 8.3 9.5 5.9 -8.1 9.3 -10.7
9 14.8 6.9 16.7 -39.8 8.8 -59.6
10 5.1 20.4 -3.3 -23.7 -25.8 -32.1
11 -1.3 5.7 -7.1 -39.3 -16.6 -46.7
12 -8.6 3.4 -16.2 30.7 37.8 23.4
2009 1 -0.4 25.2 -11.4 -15.0 33.8 -39.7
2 12.0 34.0 2.3 -20.7 31.6 -46.5
3 3.0 16.5 -5.1 -14.7 9.7 -31.1
4 6.0 34.3 -4.8 -8.0 221.8 -78.8
5 -0.7 17.4 -10.5 -18.5 71.9 -56.3
6 15.2 44.1 -0.5 17.9 310.3 -54.2
7 -2.3 17.5 -11.3 2.9 111.7 -31.6
8 -7.9 14.2 -18.6 -29.5 12.7 -42.0
9 7.7 32.2 -4.3 58.4 101.1 61.8
10 -5.2 4.9 -9.6 27.2 89.7 16.3
11P 3.6 8.1 2.3 77.0 64.6 85.6
12P 13.0 16.7 10.9 -19.5 -32.2 -10.0
P: Preliminary
8. Composite indices of business cycle indicators and BSI
See graphs 13-1, 13-2 & 13-3
Cycle of
Leading Coincident
coincident
Period index Y-o-Y index BSI (results) BSI (prospects)
index
(2005=100) change (%) (2005=100)
(2005=100)
2007 1 109.2 5.5 109.4 100.6 85.6 96.5

2 109.9 5.8 109.8 100.6 87.5 93.4
3 110.3 5.7 110.2 100.5 109.4 112.3
4 111.0 5.9 110.7 100.5 105.8 107.7
5 111.3 5.8 111.2 100.6 104.1 110.9
6 112.3 6.3 112.1 100.9 100.2 105.6
7 113.2 6.7 113.0 101.4 95.8 99.3
8 114.1 7.1 113.7 101.6 94.4 102.5
9 114.9 7.3 113.8 101.2 101.5 111.8
10 115.8 7.6 114.4 101.3 108.3 116.3
11 116.7 7.9 115.0 101.5 106.0 112.4
12 117.0 7.6 116.0 101.9 98.9 103.4
2008 1 116.6 6.6 116.8 102.2 95.2 103.0

2 115.8 5.1 116.9 101.9 95.6 94.8
3 115.2 3.9 117.1 101.7 101.1 102.1
4 114.9 3.0 117.1 101.2 101.7 98.1
5 114.8 2.3 117.3 101.0 98.1 104.7
6 114.4 1.3 117.3 100.6 79.1 95.3
7 113.7 0.1 117.6 100.4 80.8 83.2
8 113.5 -0.5 117.7 100.1 83.1 80.8
9 113.4 -0.9 117.9 99.8 76.8 98.3
10 112.7 -1.8 117.6 99.2 64.6 84.9
11 111.3 -3.3 115.9 97.3 53.7 63.7
12 110.4 -4.3 113.0 94.6 52.4 55.0
2009 1 110.7 -4.0 110.9 92.4 58.1 52.0

2 111.9 -2.9 110.9 92.0 62.4 66.0
3 113.0 -1.9 111.9 92.5 89.0 76.1
4 115.0 0.1 113.6 93.5 93.7 86.7
5 117.4 2.6 114.5 93.8 100.9 103.8
6 120.5 5.8 116.9 95.4 96.6 100.2
7 122.2 7.8 118.3 96.2 98.5 98.7
8 123.4 9.1 119.4 96.7 96.0 99.8
9 124.3 10.1 120.1 96.9 110.5 117.0
10 125.7P 11.3P 120.6P 96.9P 107.5 116.5
11 127.4P 12.6P 121.1P 96.9P 103.8 109.0
12 128.2P 12.8P 121.3P 96.6P 104.8 105.9
2010 1 - - - - 99.2 103.1

2 - - - - - 102.3
P: Preliminary
Source: Statistics Korea & The Federation of Korean Industries
62 February 2010
9. Balance of payments (I) See graphs 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 10-1 & 10-2
(million US$)
Current Goods Services Income

Period Current
balance trade trade trade
Exports Imports transfers
balance balance balance
2008 -5,776.3 5,669.1 422,007.3 435,274.7 -16,671.5 5,900.0 -673.9

2009 P 42,667.6 56,127.6 363,533.6 323,084.5 -17,202.7 4,553.6 -810.9
2008 I -4,866.4 -1,375.4 99,444.5 106,052.9 -4,936.9 1,979.7 -533.8

II -411.5 5,526.4 114,492.0 114,792.8 -4,460.5 -521.1 -956.3
III -8,329.7 -3,230.5 115,000.1 122,901.0 -5,837.8 1,503.3 -764.7
IV 7,831.3 4,748.6 93,070.6 91,528.0 -1,436.3 2,938.1 1,580.9
2009P I 8,618.2 8,308.8 74,421.4 71,417.5 -1,926.2 922.3 1,313.3

II 13,097.4 17,576.0 90,360.4 73,970.2 -4,167.7 292.7 -603.6
III 10,395.5 14,702.5 94,780.5 84,845.1 -5,334.5 1,690.7 -663.2
IV 10,556.5 15,540.3 103,971.3 92,851.8 -5,774.3 1,647.9 -857.4
2008 1 -2,343.6 -935.1 32,274.6 36,318.0 -1,957.3 840.3 -291.5

2 -2,372.0 -524.2 31,178.2 32,624.3 -2,205.7 792.3 -434.4
3 -150.8 83.9 35,991.8 37,110.6 -773.9 347.1 192.1
4 -1,578.8 1,733.1 37,850.2 38,260.4 -1,072.9 -1,914.2 -324.8
5 -566.7 367.0 39,383.2 38,704.5 -1,215.3 563.5 -281.9
6 1,734.0 3,426.3 37,258.6 37,827.9 -2,172.3 829.6 -349.6
7 -2,433.9 487.2 40,961.2 42,952.5 -2,719.6 350.0 -551.5
8 -4,676.2 -2,926.8 36,610.6 40,420.4 -1,962.9 427.4 -213.9
9 -1,219.6 -790.9 37,428.3 39,528.1 -1,155.3 725.9 0.7
10 4,644.8 2,102.2 37,111.1 36,098.8 180.5 1,590.6 771.5
11 2,408.2 1,230.4 28,841.6 28,853.6 -70.0 757.4 490.4
12 778.3 1,416.0 27,117.9 26,575.6 -1,546.8 590.1 319.0
2009P 1 -1,612.3 -1,762.2 21,133.4 24,898.8 -710.5 596.4 264.0

2 3,585.8 3,100.1 25,397.1 22,598.1 -540.4 510.5 515.6
3 6,644.7 6,970.9 27,890.8 23,920.6 -675.3 -184.6 533.7
4 4,274.1 6,105.2 30,326.5 24,873.8 -1,117.3 -803.1 89.3
5 3,442.6 4,872.3 27,823.8 23,407.0 -1,524.4 389.6 -294.9
6 5,380.7 6,598.5 32,210.0 25,689.3 -1,526.0 706.2 -398.0
7 4,419.5 6,114.5 31,908.5 27,679.8 -1,898.0 511.1 -308.1
8 1,922.1 3,319.5 28,949.6 27,408.2 -1,803.4 617.7 -211.7
9 4,053.9 5,268.5 33,922.4 29,757.1 -1,633.1 561.9 -143.4
10 4,757.3 5,675.1 33,970.0 30,396.5 -1,312.6 559.4 -164.6
11 4,277.7 5,842.3 33,991.6 29,534.7 -1,662.7 390.0 -291.9
12 1,521.5 4,022.9 36,009.6 32,920.5 -2,799.0 698.5 -400.9
P: Preliminary
Source: The Bank of Korea & Korea Customs Service
10. Balance of payments (II) See graph 10-3
(million US$)
Capital & Changes in

Capital transfers Errors and
Period financial Direct Portfolio Financial Other & acquisition of reserve
omissions
account investment investment derivative investment non-financial assets
assets
2008 -50,083.6 -15,632.6 -2,405.6 -14,769.9 -17,384.8 109.3 56,446.0 -586.1
2009P 26,447.9 -9,065.8 50,681.6 -5,538.1 -10,817.1 1,187.3 -69,061.1 -54.4
2008 I 1,990.3 -5,781.5 -4,401.5 -1,249.5 13,533.2 -110.4 3,850.0 -973.9

ll -3,160.7 -4,140.0 8,356.7 -1,240.7 -5,909.9 -226.8 5,717.7 -2,145.5
III -6,286.4 -3,661.1 -9,421.3 -3,550.4 10,564.1 -217.7 12,883.1 1,733.0
IV -42,626.8 -2,050.0 3,060.5 -8,729.3 -35,572.2 664.2 33,995.2 800.3
2009P I -1,399.2 -2,045.4 3,532.3 -4,893.6 1,282.5 725.0 -9,017.4 1,798.4

II 8,682.0 -172.1 16,740.2 -614.9 -7,566.0 294.8 -19,541.8 -2,237.6
III 14,399.1 -2,137.6 19,914.7 -1,296.5 -2,258.0 176.5 -23,886.9 -907.7
IV 4,766.0 -4,710.7 10,494.4 1,266.9 -2,275.6 -9.0 -16,615.0 1,292.5
2008 1 1,171.9 -3,002.7 -949.8 -130.4 5,313.5 -58.7 1,436.1 -264.4

2 202.3 -90.9 -3,144.5 -298.1 3,750.7 -14.9 1,703.1 466.6
3 616.1 -2,687.9 -307.2 -821.0 4,469.0 -36.8 710.8 -1,176.1
4 -835.4 -2,561.0 4,093.1 -560.3 -1,720.5 -86.7 2,411.3 2.9
5 -113.8 -683.4 9,168.1 -627.6 -7,921.8 -49.1 2,264.6 -1,584.1
6 -2,211.5 -895.6 -4,904.5 -52.8 3,732.4 -91.0 1,041.8 -564.3
7 -6,014.3 -1,465.4 -7,025.3 -551.2 3,204.5 -176.9 9,171.4 -723.2
8 5,113.2 -1,428.7 -343.4 -69.3 7,062.4 -107.8 -1,215.2 778.2
9 -5,385.3 -767.0 -2,052.6 -2,929.9 297.2 67.0 4,926.9 1,678.0
10 -23,462.3 -978.9 5,004.0 -3,888.3 -23,952.6 353.5 19,988.1 -1,170.6
11 -13,488.5 -615.2 -2,524.0 -1,347.1 -9,215.7 213.5 10,904.2 176.1
12 -5,676.0 -455.9 580.5 -3,493.9 -2,403.9 97.2 3,102.9 1,794.8
2009P 1 4,655.2 -538.7 5,678.8 -248.5 -379.9 143.5 -4,488.6 1,445.7

2 -3,216.5 -785.8 161.4 -2,312.2 -609.6 338.7 -1,260.0 890.7
3 -2,837.9 -720.9 -2,307.9 -2,323.9 2,272.0 242.8 -3,268.8 -538.0
4 2,193.3 112.4 7,133.0 -679.8 -4,532.5 160.2 -5,444.1 -1,023.3
5 6,707.8 -574.5 4,263.5 1,341.1 1,586.6 91.1 -10,248.6 98.2
6 -219.1 290.0 5,343.7 -1,276.2 -4,620.1 43.5 -3,849.1 -1,312.5
7 2,200.5 -1,323.9 7,940.1 -272.7 -4,379.0 236.0 -5,573.6 -1,046.4
8 5,296.9 -276.1 4,063.5 -721.0 2,177.0 53.5 -7,095.2 -123.8
9 6,901.7 -537.6 7,911.1 -302.8 -56.0 -113.0 -11,218.1 262.5
10 1,582.9 -509.0 6,130.5 -572.9 -3,477.9 12.2 -7,966.2 1,626.0
11 1,544.2 -2,835.0 3,389.4 848.7 193.9 -52.8 -5,637.4 -184.5
12 1,638.9 -1,366.7 974.5 991.1 1,008.4 31.6 -3,011.4 -149.0
P: Preliminary
64 February 2010
11. Prices See graphs 11-1, 11-2 & 11-3
(2005 = 100)
Producer prices
Consumer prices Export & import prices
(2005=100)
Period
All Items Commodity Service Core All items Commodity Export Import
2008 109.7 109.9 109.6 108.6 111.1 112.5 109.5 143.7

2009 112.8 113.6 112.2 112.5 110.9 111.9 - -
2008 1 106.8 106.3 107.1 105.6 104.7 104.4 93.7 118.4

2 107.2 106.6 107.5 106.0 105.7 105.7 94.8 121.6
3 108.2 107.1 108.9 107.2 107.1 107.5 100.8 131.5
4 108.8 108.2 109.2 107.7 109.4 110.3 103.3 136.5
5 109.7 110.0 109.5 108.2 111.5 113.1 110.7 151.1
6 110.4 111.5 109.7 108.7 113.3 115.5 112.0 155.2
7 111.2 112.9 110.1 109.2 115.5 118.1 112.1 156.8
8 111.0 112.2 110.3 109.4 115.2 117.6 110.5 149.9
9 111.1 112.1 110.4 109.9 114.8 117.0 115.6 153.4
10 111.0 111.7 110.6 110.1 114.4 116.7 124.5 159.7
11 110.7 110.3 110.9 110.4 111.8 113.3 120.4 149.1
12 110.7 110.2 111.0 110.9 109.9 110.9 115.0 140.6
2009 1 110.8 110.4 111.1 111.1 109.6 110.4 111.1 138.1

2 111.6 112.1 111.2 111.5 110.3 111.5 116.5 143.5
3 112.4 113.3 111.8 112.0 110.8 112.1 118.4 145.4
4 112.7 113.8 112.0 112.2 111.0 112.1 112.2 134.1
5 112.7 113.6 112.0 112.4 110.1 111.0 106.3 130.0
6 112.6 113.3 112.1 112.5 109.8 110.5 108.3 136.7
7 113.0 113.9 112.5 112.7 111.1 112.1 109.0 136.6
8 113.4 114.5 112.7 112.8 111.7 112.9 109.3 139.5
9 113.5 114.6 112.7 112.9 111.8 113.0 107.3 136.8
10 113.2 113.9 112.8 113.0 110.9 111.8 104.0 135.3
11 113.4 114.2 112.9 113.2 111.3 112.5 104.3 137.9
12 113.8 115.0 113.0 113.3 111.9 113.1 105.1 138.6
2010 1 114.2 115.6 113.3 113.4 112.7 113.9 - -

Y-o-Y change (%)
2008 4.7 6.2 3.7 4.2 8.6 10.8 21.8 36.2
2009 2.8 3.4 2.4 3.6 -0.2 -0.5 - -
2008 1 3.9 4.8 3.2 2.8 4.2 4.8 5.8 21.2

2 3.6 4.2 3.2 2.8 5.1 6.1 7.6 22.2
3 3.9 4.7 3.5 3.3 6.0 7.3 13.4 28.0
4 4.1 5.3 3.5 3.5 7.6 9.3 15.7 31.3
5 4.9 7.0 3.6 3.9 9.0 11.3 24.0 44.6
6 5.5 8.6 3.7 4.3 10.5 13.6 25.2 49.0
7 5.9 9.3 3.9 4.6 12.5 16.1 25.1 50.6
8 5.6 8.4 4.0 4.7 12.3 15.6 21.9 42.6
9 5.1 7.1 3.9 5.1 11.3 14.4 27.4 42.6
10 4.8 6.3 3.9 5.2 10.7 14.0 38.6 47.1
11 4.5 5.1 4.1 5.3 7.8 9.9 31.5 32.0
12 4.1 4.4 4.0 5.6 5.6 6.9 25.0 22.4
2009 1 3.7 3.9 3.7 5.2 4.7 5.7 18.6 16.7

2 4.1 5.2 3.4 5.2 4.4 5.5 22.9 18.0
3 3.9 5.8 2.7 4.5 3.5 4.3 17.4 10.6
4 3.6 5.2 2.6 4.2 1.5 1.6 7.7 -1.8
5 2.7 3.3 2.3 3.9 -1.3 -1.9 -4.1 -13.9
6 2.0 1.6 2.2 3.5 -3.1 -4.3 -3.3 -11.9
7 1.6 0.9 2.2 3.2 3.8 -5.1 -2.7 -12.9
8 2.2 2.0 2.2 3.1 -3.0 -4.0 -1.1 -7.0
9 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.7 -2.6 -3.4 -7.2 -10.8
10 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.6 -3.1 -4.2 -16.5 -15.3
11 2.4 3.5 1.8 2.5 -0.4 -0.7 -13.4 -7.5
12 2.8 4.4 1.8 2.2 1.8 2.0 -8.6 -1.4
2010 1 3.1 4.7 2.0 2.1 2.8 3.2 - -

12. Employment See graphs 8-1, 8-2 & 8-3
Economically active persons (thous.) Wage workers (thous.)

Unemploy-
Period
Employed persons (thous.) ment (%)
Regular Temporary Daily
All industry Manufacturing S.O.C&service
2008 24,347 23,577 3,963 17,906 3.2 16,206 9,007 5,079 2,121
2009 24,394 23,506 3,836 17,998 3.6 16,454 9,390 5,101 1,963
2008 1 23,738 22,964 4,022 17,651 3.3 16,032 8,815 5,115 2,102
2 23,703 22,884 4,017 17,510 3.5 15,836 8,804 5,055 1,977
3 24,114 23,305 3,999 17,732 3.4 15,993 8,898 5,023 2,073
4 24,495 23,711 4,001 17,929 3.2 16,258 8,894 5,127 2,238
5 24,692 23,939 3,987 18,046 3.0 16,405 9,010 5,165 2,231
6 24,727 23,963 3,993 18,067 3.1 16,385 9,039 5,132 2,214
7 24,673 23,903 3,975 18,088 3.1 16,363 9,054 5,163 2,146
8 24,380 23,617 3,899 17,872 3.1 16,104 9,107 4,970 2,027
9 24,456 23,734 3,928 17,951 3.0 16,221 9,142 5,015 2,064
10 24,582 23,847 3,945 18,005 3.0 16,314 9,138 5,034 2,142
11 24,566 23,816 3,897 18,086 3.1 16,377 9,111 5,071 2,195
12 24,032 23,245 3,888 17,935 3.3 16,189 9,068 5,082 2,040
2009 1 23,709 22,861 3,895 17,663 3.6 16,053 9,102 4,982 1,969
2 23,667 22,742 3,842 17,539 3.9 15,953 9,194 4,862 1,897
3 24,062 23,110 3,813 17,701 4.0 16,076 9,174 4,941 1,961
4 24,456 23,524 3,846 17,899 3.8 16,353 9,227 5,051 2,076
5 24,658 23,720 3,846 18,016 3.8 16,484 9,316 5,076 2,092
6 24,927 23,967 3,836 18,251 3.9 16,736 9,340 5,281 2,115
7 24,756 23,828 3,802 18,210 3.7 16,589 9,383 5,255 1,952
8 24,525 23,620 3,761 18,048 3.7 16,479 9,472 5,117 1,890
9 24,630 23,805 3,810 18,155 3.4 16,687 9,606 5,151 1,931
10 24,655 23,856 3,858 18,130 3.2 16,690 9,628 5,170 1,892
11 24,625 23,806 3,855 18,267 3.3 16,790 9,603 5,256 1,931
12 24,063 23,229 3,872 18,104 3.5 16,555 9,632 5,074 4,860
2010 1 24,082 22,865 3,924 17,796 5.0 16,297 9,712 4,860 1,725
Y-o-Y change (%)
2008 0.5 0.6 -1.3 1.3 - 1.5 4.5 -1.8 -2.6
2009 0.2 -0.3 -3.2 0.5 - 1.5 4.3 0.4 -7.4
2008 1 0.7 1.0 -0.6 1.8 - 2.4 5.2 -1.2 0.2

2 0.7 0.9 -0.3 1.6 - 1.9 4.8 -1.4 -1.9
3 0.6 0.8 -0.4 1.4 - 1.7 5.5 -3.2 -1.8
4 0.7 0.8 -0.6 1.4 - 1.8 5.2 -2.1 -1.7
5 0.6 0.8 -0.8 1.5 - 1.9 5.6 -1.8 -3.2
6 0.5 0.6 -1.1 1.4 - 1.6 4.9 -1.6 -3.3
7 0.5 0.6 -1.2 1.3 - 1.5 4.4 -1.7 -2.4
8 0.7 0.7 -1.2 1.3 - 1.4 3.9 -1.5 -2.3
9 0.5 0.5 -1.6 1.1 - 1.0 3.6 -1.7 -3.2
10 0.4 0.4 -2.3 1.2 - 1.0 3.5 -1.7 -2.8
11 0.4 0.3 -2.2 0.7 - 1.0 3.6 -2.0 -2.5
12 0.2 -0.1 -3.3 0.6 - 0.5 3.6 -1.8 -6.3
2009 1 -0.1 -0.4 -3.2 0.1 - 0.1 3.3 -2.6 -6.3

2 -0.2 -0.6 -4.4 0.2 - 0.7 4.4 -3.8 -4.1
3 -0.2 -0.8 -4.7 -0.2 - 0.5 3.1 -1.6 -5.4
4 -0.2 -0.8 -3.9 -0.2 - 0.6 3.7 -1.5 -7.2
5 -0.1 -0.9 -3.5 -0.2 - 0.5 3.4 -1.7 -6.2
6 0.8 0.0 -3.9 1.0 - 2.1 3.3 2.9 -4.5
7 0.3 -0.3 -4.3 0.7 - 1.4 3.6 1.8 -9.1
8 0.6 0.0 -3.5 1.0 - 2.3 4.0 3.0 -6.7
9 0.7 0.3 -3.0 1.1 - 2.9 5.1 2.7 -6.5
10 0.3 0.0 -2.2 0.7 - 2.3 5.4 2.7 -11.7
11 0.2 0.0 -1.1 1.0 - 2.5 5.4 3.7 -12.0
12 0.1 -0.1 -0.4 0.9 - 2.3 6.2 -0.2 -9.3
2010 1 1.6 0.0 0.8 0.8 - 1.5 6.7 -2.4 -12.4

66 February 2010
13. Financial indicators See graphs 9-1 & 9-4
(period average)
Yields (%) Stock

Period
Call rate CD Corporate bonds Treasury bonds Treasury bonds KOSPI
(1 day) (91 days) (3 years, AA-) (3 years) (5 years) (end-period)
2006 1 3.7 4.2 5.5 5.0 5.3 1,399.80

2 3.9 4.3 5.3 4.9 5.0 1,371.60
3 4.0 4.3 5.3 4.9 5.1 1,359.60
4 4.0 4.3 5.2 5.0 5.2 1,419.70
5 4.0 4.4 5.1 4.8 4.9 1,371.70
6 4.2 4.5 5.2 4.9 5.0 1,295.70
7 4.2 4.6 5.2 4.9 5.0 1,297.80
8 4.4 4.7 5.1 4.8 4.8 1,352.70
9 4.5 4.6 5.0 4.7 4.8 1,371.40
10 4.5 4.6 4.9 4.6 4.7 1,364.60
11 4.5 4.6 5.1 4.7 4.8 1,432.20
12 4.5 4.8 5.2 4.8 4.9 1,434.50
2007 1 4.6 4.9 5.3 5.0 5.0 1,360.20

2 4.6 5.0 5.3 4.9 4.9 1,417.30
3 4.6 4.9 5.2 4.8 4.8 1,452.60
4 4.7 5.0 5.3 4.9 5.0 1,542.24
5 4.6 5.0 5.5 5.1 5.1 1,700.91
6 4.5 5.0 5.6 5.2 5.4 1,743.60
7 4.7 5.1 5.8 5.4 5.4 1,933.27
8 4.9 5.2 5.7 5.3 5.3 1,873.24
9 5.0 5.3 5.9 5.4 5.4 1,946.48
10 5.0 5.3 6.0 5.4 5.5 2,064.95
11 5.0 5.4 6.2 5.5 5.6 1,906.00
12 5.0 5.7 6.7 5.9 5.9 1,897.10
2008 1 5.0 5.8 6.6 5.4 5.5 1,624.68

2 5.0 5.3 6.3 5.1 5.1 1,711.62
3 5.0 5.3 6.1 5.2 5.2 1,703.99
4 5.0 5.4 5.9 5.0 5.0 1,825.47
5 5.0 5.4 6.2 5.3 5.4 1,852.02
6 5.0 5.4 6.7 5.7 5.8 1,674.92
7 5.0 5.5 7.0 6.0 6.0 1,594.67
8 5.2 5.8 7.1 5.8 5.8 1,474.24
9 5.2 5.8 7.5 5.8 5.8 1,448.06
10 4.9 6.0 8.0 5.1 5.2 1,113.06
11 4.0 5.6 8.6 5.0 5.2 1,076.07
12 3.3 4.7 8.4 4.0 4.3 1,124.47
2009 1 2.4 3.2 7.3 3.4 4.0 1,162.11

2 2.1 2.7 7.1 3.8 4.6 1,063.03
3 1.8 2.5 6.1 3.7 4.5 1,206.26
4 1.8 2.4 5.7 3.8 4.4 1,369.40
5 1.9 2.4 5.2 3.8 4.5 1,395.89
6 1.9 2.4 5.2 4.1 4.7 1,390.07
7 1.9 2.4 5.5 4.1 4.6 1,577.29
8 2.0 2.5 5.7 4.4 4.9 1,591.85
9 2.0 2.6 5.6 4.4 4.9 1,673.14
10 2.0 2.8 5.6 4.5 4.9 1,580.69
11 2.0 2.8 5.4 4.3 4.8 1,555.60
12 2.0 2.8 5.4 4.2 4.8 1,682.77
2010 1 2.0 2.9 5.4 4.3 4.8 1,602.43

14. Monetary indicators See graph 9-5
(period average) (billion won)
Period Reserve money M1 M2 Lf
2008 52,272.8 307,273.6 1,367,713.4 1,794,841.2

2009 61,739.6 357,344.1 1,508,550.4 1,937,371.6
2008 1 50,260.5 305,868.0 1,286,407.8 1,711,196.8

2 52,563.7 304,580.7 1,309,161.7 1,726,407.2
3 49,571.5 299,792.8 1,324,032.7 1,743,481.7
4 50,683.6 298,474.4 1,339,434.9 1,762,945.3
5 50,502.5 304,239.8 1,356,612.9 1,782,721.1
6 51,274.4 305,514.3 1,369,728.1 1,798,774.9
7 50,600.6 306,584.4 1,378,914.3 1,801,540.6
8 51,981.0 304,538.7 1,386,101.1 1,810,535.1
9 53,303.9 307,067.8 1,395,719.2 1,831,313.4
10 52,976.5 310,565.5 1,403,984.2 1,845,717.7
11 54,254.5 316,330.9 1,426,165.1 1,859,348.8
12 59,300.7 323,725.9 1,436,298.3 1,864,111.6
2009 1 64,040.6 331,358.0 1,440,275.8 1,868,843.3

2 63,061.7 334,521.7 1,457,931.3 1,879,102.7
3 65,669.5 342,777.0 1,470,443.1 1,889,071.5
4 61,379.9 350,446.0 1,482,009.7 1,897,923.7
5 60,082.5 355,922.0 1,491,542.7 1,913,084.5
6 59,530.3 362,111.3 1,501,898.3 1,925,418.1
7 59,420.2 363,421.4 1,512,822.5 1,940,223.0
8 60,570.3 361,012.4 1,524,879.7 1,956,130.6
9 59,650.3 367,070.3 1,535,279.8 1,972,408.5
10 63,681.7 371,531.7 1,551,319.5 1,990,372.5
11 61,154.5 370,979.7 1,564,175.8 2,000,503.6
12 62,633.2 376,977.3 1,570,027.1 2,015,377.4
Y-o-Y change (%)
2008 7.7 -1.8 14.3 11.9
2009 18.1 16.3 10.3 7.9
2008 1 5.0 -13.5 12.5 11.4

2 6.2 -13.2 13.4 11.6
3 1.3 -10.6 13.9 11.9
4 6.7 -2.3 14.9 12.7
5 5.0 1.0 15.8 13.1
6 7.0 1.0 15.1 12.7
7 6.5 1.4 14.8 12.1
8 8.7 2.2 14.7 11.8
9 9.1 2.7 14.5 12.2
10 7.3 4.2 14.2 11.9
11 11.1 5.5 14.0 11.4
12 17.8 5.2 13.1 10.4
2009 1 27.4 8.3 12.0 9.2

2 20.0 9.8 11.4 8.8
3 32.5 14.3 11.1 8.4
4 21.1 17.4 10.6 7.7
5 19.0 17.0 9.9 7.3
6 16.1 18.5 9.6 7.0
7 17.4 18.5 9.7 7.7
8 16.5 18.5 10.0 8.0
9 11.9 19.5 10.0 7.7
10 20.2 19.6 10.5 7.8
11 12.7 17.3 9.7 7.6
12 5.6 16.4 9.3 8.1
P: Preliminary
68 February 2010
15. Exchange rates See graphs 9-2 & 9-3
/US$ /100 /Euro

Period
End-period Average End-period Average End-period Average
2008 1,257.5 1,102.6 1,393.9 1,076.6 1,776.2 1,606.8

2009 1,167.6 1,276.4 1,262.8 1,363.1 1,674.3 1,774.4
2008 1 943.9 942.4 889.1 872.9 1,402.3 1,386.2

2 937.3 944.7 889.7 880.6 1,423.5 1,395.4
3 991.7 979.9 1,000.2 972.3 1,565.0 1,519.5
4 999.7 986.7 961.8 962.4 1,556.2 1,555.1
5 1,031.4 1,036.7 977.0 994.2 1,599.6 1,614.6
6 1,043.4 1,029.3 981.8 963.0 1,647.1 1,601.7
7 1,008.5 1,019.1 932.9 954.2 1,571.0 1,606.4
8 1,081.8 1,041.5 987.9 953.0 1,590.3 1,561.6
9 1,187.7 1,130.4 1,144.2 1,060.6 1,707.2 1,627.6
10 1,291.4 1,326.9 1,306.0 1,327.1 1,664.4 1,765.3
11 1,482.7 1,390.1 1,553.8 1,435.1 1,912.6 1,768.9
12 1,257.5 1,373.8 1,393.9 1,503.3 1,776.2 1,846.1
2009 1 1,368.5 1,346.1 1,521.0 1,487.2 1,768.7 1,793.8

2 1,516.4 1,429.5 1,541.1 1,546.1 1,930.1 1,829.9
3 1,377.1 1,462.0 1,414.8 1,495.7 1,816.4 1,904.0
4 1,348.0 1,341.9 1,382.9 1,356.2 1,786.8 1,771.6
5 1,272.9 1,258.7 1,314.1 1,304.5 1,772.7 1,719.1
6 1,284.7 1,261.4 1,336.3 1,305.5 1,809.3 1,767.8
7 1,240.5 1,264.0 1,299.2 1,338.1 1,745.9 1,778.8
8 1,244.9 1,238.4 1,332.8 1,304.3 1,779.1 1,776.3
9 1,188.7 1,219.2 1,318.8 1,332.4 1,734.3 1,774.2
10 1,200.6 1,175.3 1,312.6 1,300.8 1,781.3 1,742.9
11 1,167.4 1,164.2 1,348.3 1,304.4 1,751.7 1,736.6
12 1,167.6 1,166.5 1,262.8 1,300.8 1,674.3 1,703.7
2010 1 1,156.5 1,138.8 1,287.0 1,248.3 1,614.6 1,627.5

Y-o-Y change (%)
2008 34.0 18.7 67.3 36.3 28.6 26.2
2009 -7.1 15.8 -9.4 26.6 -5.7 10.4
2008 1 0.3 0.6 15.0 12.2 14.9 13.9

2 -0.1 0.8 12.1 13.4 14.6 13.9
3 5.5 3.9 25.5 20.8 24.8 21.6
4 7.6 5.9 23.6 22.8 22.8 23.6
5 10.9 11.7 27.8 29.4 28.1 28.7
6 12.6 10.9 30.5 27.2 32.2 28.7
7 9.2 10.9 20.4 26.3 24.0 27.5
8 15.1 11.5 22.0 19.2 24.0 22.7
9 29.0 21.2 43.6 30.8 31.0 26.1
10 42.3 44.9 65.1 67.8 27.1 35.5
11 59.5 51.6 83.6 73.7 39.4 31.5
12 34.0 47.7 67.3 81.5 28.6 36.2
2009 1 45.0 42.8 71.1 70.4 26.1 29.4

2 61.8 51.3 73.2 75.6 35.6 31.1
3 38.9 49.2 41.5 53.8 16.1 25.3
4 34.8 36.0 43.8 40.9 14.8 13.9
5 23.4 21.4 34.5 31.2 10.8 6.5
6 23.1 22.5 36.1 35.6 9.9 10.4
7 23.0 24.0 39.3 40.2 11.1 10.7
8 15.1 18.9 34.9 36.9 11.9 13.1
9 0.1 7.9 15.3 25.6 1.6 9.0
10 -7.0 -11.4 0.5 -2.0 7.0 -1.3
11 -21.3 -16.2 -13.2 -9.1 -8.4 -1.8
12 -7.1 -15.1 -9.4 -13.5 -5.7 -7.7
2010 1 -15.5 -15.4 -15.4 -16.1 -8.7 -9.3

Editor-in-Chief
Park, Chul-Kyu (MOSF)
Editorial Board
Kim, Young-Min (MOSF)
Lee, In-Sook (KDI)
Coordinators
Kim, Dae-Hyun (MOSF)
Cho, Hyun-Joo (KDI)
Editors
Lim, Keun-Hyuk (MOSF)
Kim, Sun-Young (MOSF)
Kang, Ji-Eun (KDI)
Useful Internet Websites

Economy-related Websites Recommended
Ministry of Strategy and Finance

http://english.mosf.go.kr
Ministry of Knowledge Economy

http://www.mke.go.kr/language/eng
Financial Services Commission

http://www.fsc.go.kr/eng
Financial Supervisory Service

http://english.fss.or.kr
Fair Trade Commission

http://eng.ftc.go.kr
Ministry of Labor
http://english.molab.go.kr/english
The Bank of Korea

http://www.bok.or.kr
Statistics Korea
http://kostat.go.kr

Economic Bulletin (Vol.32 No.2)

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Economic Bulletin (Vol.32 No.2)

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Vol. 32 | No.

The Green Book : Current Economic Trends

Economic News Briefing 47

The G-20 Seoul Summit

Priorities for the G-20 Seoul Summit

1. Successful implementation of the “Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced

In addition, the initiatives taken at previous summits on improvement of financial regulation

3. Extensive outreach efforts toward non-G-20 countries

Key meetings1 for the G-20 in 2010

Date Meeting Location

(Percentage change from previous period)

1-2 US non-farm payroll employment (m-o-m change)

1-3 US federal funds rate and consumer prices

Home prices (y-o-y, %)

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

1-5 Japan’s GDP growth

1-6 Eurozone GDP growth and industrial production

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

2-2 Consumer goods sales

2-3 Consumer goods sales by type

Domestic sales of Korean automobiles (ten thousand units)

Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %)

Number of workers hired (y-o-y, ten thousand)

Retail sales (excluding automobiles, m-o-m, %)

Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI)

2-5 Domestic automobile sales

2-6 Consumer sentiment index

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

Machinery investment increased 6.4 percent month-on-month, while investment in

Business survey indices (base=100) for 95 100 96 98 103 101

3-2 Machinery orders and estimated facility investment (3-month average)

3-3 Machinery imports

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

4-2 Construction completed and housing construction

4-3 Leading indicators of construction investment

Raw materials (y-o-y, %)

5-2 Imports (customs clearance basis)

5-3 Trade balance

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

Mining and manufacturing production in January is projected to show limited improvement

Industrial electricity sales (thousand GWh)

Export increase (%)

6-2 Average manufacturing operation ratio

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %)

Volume of stock transactions (trillion won)

Wholesale and retail sales

Source: Statistics Korea (service industry activity trend)

December 2009 service industry by business

Employment in manufacturing (down 16,000), construction (down 58,000), and agriculture,

8-2 Share of employed by industry

8-3 Share of employed by status of workers

8-5 Unemployment rate and youth unemployment rate

8-6 Unemployment rate by education

9.1 Stock market

(End-period, point, trillion won)

9.2 Exchange rate

9-2 Foreign exchange rate (month-end)

9-3 Recent foreign exchange rate

9.4 Money supply & money market

(Percentage change from same period in previous year, average)