S. Korea to post trade surplus in October: minister

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is expected to post a trade surplus in October for the first time in five months that could help stabilize overall economic conditions, a senior policymaker said Friday.

Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Youn-ho said at a meeting of South Korean and U.S.
businessmen that the expected surplus reflects Seoul's sound economic and
financial fundamentals.
In the nine months of this year, Seoul posted a surplus only once in May causing
the trade deficit to soar to $14.67 billion compared to a surplus of nearly $12
billion during the same period in 2007. The government had originally forecasted
a trade surplus of around $13 billion for 2008, but this target has been upset by
surge in energy-related imports like crude oil and natural gas.
The size of the monthly trade surplus is to be released Monday, but some sources
hinted that it may hover around $1 billion from $2 billion in the red in
September.
He stressed that the country had successfully overcome the 1997-98 Asian
financial crisis and expressed confidence that Seoul could meet the current
global difficulties.
Lee said that one way to overcome current adversity is through the ratification
of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) that was signed last year.
He said that if the FTA goes into effect, U.S. carmakers could take full
advantage of the rapidly growing South Korean import automobile market.
"From 2004 to 2007 the market has been grown two-fold every year," the minister
said.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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