S. Korea's Q3 royalty deficit hits record high

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea posted the largest-ever deficit in its
royalty balance in the third quarter of this year as payments to foreign
companies surged, central bank data showed Sunday.
According to the data by the Bank of Korea, the country's deficit in the trade of
royalties jumped 40.5 percent on-year to US$1.32 billion in the July-September
period. Royalties are payments to holders of patents or copyrights.
It was the largest quarterly deficit since 1980, when the central bank began to
compile related data.
The central bank attributed the surge to a jump in payments to foreign holders of
patents and copyrights.
South Korea's royalty payments surged 25.4 percent from a year earlier to $1.91
billion in the three-month period, while royalty receipts edged up 1 percent to
$588 million, the central bank said.
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