AFP, Seoul :
South Korea’s economy expanded at its slowest pace for a decade last year, hampered by prolonged trade tensions between the US and China and the sluggish semiconductor market, the central bank said Wednesday.
The world’s 12th-largest economy grew 2.0 percent in 2019, down from 2.7 percent the previous year and the worst performance since 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Slowing growth presents a challenge for the South, which enjoyed a decades-long boom known as the “Miracle on the Han” but where a highly educated youth now struggles to find well-paid jobs and frustration is mounting over inequality.
President Moon Jae-in has been criticised for a controversial economic policy featuring public spending increases and the concept of “income-led growth”, which has seen the minimum wage rise more than 30 percent in three years. Opponents say it hurts those it is intended to help by raising employment costs.
South Korea’s economy expanded at its slowest pace for a decade last year, hampered by prolonged trade tensions between the US and China and the sluggish semiconductor market, the central bank said Wednesday.
The world’s 12th-largest economy grew 2.0 percent in 2019, down from 2.7 percent the previous year and the worst performance since 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Slowing growth presents a challenge for the South, which enjoyed a decades-long boom known as the “Miracle on the Han” but where a highly educated youth now struggles to find well-paid jobs and frustration is mounting over inequality.
President Moon Jae-in has been criticised for a controversial economic policy featuring public spending increases and the concept of “income-led growth”, which has seen the minimum wage rise more than 30 percent in three years. Opponents say it hurts those it is intended to help by raising employment costs.
