ROK posts trade deficit in 24 months in Jan

SEOUL - South Korea's trade balance turned into the red in 24 months in January as exports reduced amid Europe's debt crisis and the global economic slowdown, a government report showed Wednesday.

Trade deficit reached $1.96 billion in January, a sharp turnaround from a surplus of 2.9 billion dollars tallied in the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

South Korea posted the trade deficit for the first time in 24 months in January as exports, which account for more than half of the Asia's No.4 economy, posted the first decline in 27 months.

Exports decreased 6.6 percent on-year to 41.54 billion dollars last month, while imports grew 3.6 percent to 43.49 billion dollars over the cited period.   "As the Lunar New Year holiday occurred in January, the on-year growth rate was likely to be distorted. This suggests a rebound in February export growth, but unlikely to offset the January decline," Kwon Young-sun, a chief economist at Nomura in Hong Kong, said in a report before the data' s announcement.