Anchor: The South Korean economy is showing no signs of improvement as growth slowed down in the second quarter due to sluggish private consumption and weaker facility investment. 
Lee Bo-kyung has more. 

Report: According to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Thursday, the country's gross domestic product(GDP) came to 398-point-three trillion won in the April-June period, up point-seven percent on-quarter. 

The growth slowed from a one percent on-quarter rise in the first three months of the year, matching the market forecast. The economy expanded two-point-nine percent in the second quarter from a year earlier. 

South Korea’s GDP fell point-two percent in the fourth quarter last year and shifted to a growth of one percent in the first quarter, but economic expansion has stalled in the second quarter. 

The slow growth is mainly attributed to sluggish private consumption and weak investment. 

The central bank said that private consumption increased point-three percent, the lowest gain since the fourth quarter of 2016. 

Construction investment, which grew one-point-eight percent in the first three months of the year, contracted one-point-three percent in the second quarter. This represented its worst showing since the fourth quarter last year, when it shrank two-point-three percent. 

Capital investment, which increased three-point-four percent in the first quarter, also contracted six-point-six percent to mark its worst performance since the first quarter of 2016. 

Exports increased point-eight percent in the second quarter, a sharp drop from a four-point-four percent growth in the previous quarter. 

The real gross domestic income also decreased point-eight percent in the second quarter, marking the first drop since the fourth quarter of last year, when it shrank one-point-three percent. 

To meet the government's target growth of two-point-nine percent this year, the BOK said that the economy would have to expand at between point-82 and point-94 percent in the third and fourth quarters. It said global trade disputes and instability in financial markets are risk factors for the nation’s economy. 
Lee Bo-kyung, KBS World Radio News.