IN BRIEF (Page 5)

S. Korea exports decline by 11.7%

South Korea's exports fell for the third straight month in February, posting double-digit declines on weak demand for locally-made semiconductors, a government report showed on Friday. Exports, which accounts for about half of the economy, declined 11.7 percent over the year to $39.56 billion in February, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The downtrend continued after slides of 1.2 percent in December last year and 5.8 percent in January. It marked the first time since July 2016 that outbound shipments kept falling for three months in a row.

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