Anchor: South Korea’s economy shrank by one percent last year, logging the first contraction since 1998 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The figure is still higher than the Bank of Korea's initial forecast with the South Korean government assessing it fared relatively well among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD). 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: The Bank of Korea(BOK) said Tuesday that the country's gross domestic product(GDP) shrank one percent in 2020 from a year earlier. 

It marks the first on-year contraction and the worst growth since 1998 when the GDP shrank five-point-one percent amid the Asian financial crisis. 

The contraction was largely due to sharp drops in private consumption and exports resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Exports slipped two-and-a-half percent compared to 2019, or the sharpest drop since 1989. Private consumption shrank five percent, posting the steepest decline since the Asian financial crisis. 

The annual contraction, however, is smaller by point-one percentage point than what the central bank previously forecast.

Observers believe government financial support and stabilization funds safeguarded the nation’s economy.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the nation’s GDP performance last year demonstrated the economy's strength in the face of crises.

On his social media account, Hong compared South Korea’s GDP growth to other countries, saying the world's top ten leading economies are forecast to have contracted between three and over ten percent last year.

While expressing disappointment about failing to prevent annual negative growth, Hong was quick to stress that the economy posted growth in the third and fourth quarters, solidifying the basis for a fast economic recovery. 

The presidential office also hailed the nation’s economic performance last year, calling it "top notch" compared to the estimated contraction of three to ten percent of the top ten economies.

In a written briefing, presidential spokesperson Kang Min-seok credited the economic performance to the public's sacrifices amid three waves of the pandemic.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.