3분기 GDP 성장률 1.9%…상반기 역성장 딛고 반등

Our top story this lunchtime,
South Korea has posted its economic data for the third quarter, and it shows the first quarterly GDP growth this year.
This comes despite the sudden resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past few months.
Eum Ji-young has the details.
Despite the surge in COVID-19 infections in the past couple of months, South Korea posted a first quarterly GDP growth of 2020.
The Bank of Korea said on Tuesday that the country's GDP in the third quarter grew by 1-point-9 percent compared to the previous quarter.
The South Korean economy had previously shrunk,... by 1-point-3 percent in the first quarter and by 3-point-2 percent in the second quarter.
The third quarter's growth could be from the base effect coming after the second quarter saw the lowest growth in over 11 years.
But the central bank said the country's exports contributed to the improved GDP figures.
"Although private consumption turned negative and there was a larger decrease in investment in construction, exports and investment in facilities increased sharply."
Exports, which are the key driver of the South Korean economy, rose by 15-point-6 percent on-quarter led by automobiles and semiconductors... mainly due to the economic recovery seen in major trading partners such as China.
Imports also increased by around 5 percent mainly on crude oil and chemical products.
But private consumption decreased by about 0-point-1 percent mainly on durable goods like clothes.
Investment in construction decreased by about 8 percent on-quarter.
Shortly after the central bank released the figures, finance minister Hong Nam-ki said he expects the economy to continue to pick-up in the following quarters.
He said that it is meaningful to see the recovery,... especially in exports, but added that the country might have seen even more growth if there hadn't been a resurgence of the virus in August.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.