South Korea's Finance Minister has admitted the zero-point-three percent fall in GDP in the first quarter is concerning, and vowed to come up with measures to boost private investment by the first half of this year.
At the economy-related ministers' meeting on Monday, Hong Nam-ki said the government is working on plans to boost investment in various sectors including system memory chips which are used for driverless cars and AI.
On rising global oil prices following the U.S. announcement to end exemptions on Iranian oil sanctions, he said the government will help local petrochemical companies diversify oil imports.
He added that it is critical the 5-point-nine billion U.S. dollar extra budget bill at the National Assembly is passed quickly to help boost economic growth.