Anchor: South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the government will come up with measures next month to boost sagging exports.
This comes amid widespread concerns that overseas shipments would contract in January from a year earlier. 
Our Park Jong-hong has the details.

Report: Amid uncertainties in and out of the country, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said measures to revitalize exports are now more critical than ever.

Hong pointed to the deepening global trade friction and slowing global growth and added that exports are likely to post negative growth for two months in a row in January and even fall short of the figure from one year ago.

Hong made the comments in a meeting with relevant officials on how to boost the economy at a government building in central Seoul.

The Customs Office has already revealed that, in the first 20 days of January, South Korea's exports stood at 25-point-seven billion dollars, down 14-point-six percent from a year earlier. 

The decline is blamed on a plunge in overseas shipments of semiconductors, a mainstay export item of South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy.

In December, exports fell one-point-two percent on-year to 48-point-five billion dollars due to sluggish sales of autos and displays, while imports edged up point-nine percent to 43-point-nine billion dollars.

Hong said his ministry will come up with a plan to jump-start exports by next month and promptly launch implementation.

He also said that detailed plans to prop up overseas plants, contents and agro-fisheries will be rolled out one after another.

He assured the nation that economic policy directives are being checked on a monthly basis and are being carried out without any setbacks.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.