The South Korean economy grew only half-a-percent in the first quarter of this year.
 
The Bank of Korea(BOK) said Thursday that the nation’s gross domestic product(GDP) stood at 372-point-four trillion won, or around 312 billion U.S. dollars, from January to March this year.
 
The figure is up zero-point-one percentage point from the previous estimate announced in April due in part to increased government spending and investment in construction.
 
But the first quarter growth is the lowest since the second quarter of last year when it was jolted by the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS).
 
The economic growth rate has been hovering below one percent for seven quarters with the exception of the one-point-two percent growth seen in the third quarter in 2015.