S. Korea's export recovery to speed up in 1st half: survey

SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- The pace of a recovery in South Korean exports is
expected to accelerate in the first half of this year, buoyed by a turnaround in
the global economy, a survey showed Tuesday.

The quarterly export survey index, jointly compiled by the Korea Trade-Investment
Promotion Agency and Samsung Economic Research Institute, stood at 54.6 in the
first quarter of this year, compared with 54 from the final quarter of 2009.
Separately, the index for the second quarter of this year was 61.9, according to
the survey of about 2,000 overseas buyers.
A reading above 50 means a majority of the overseas buyers expect that export
conditions will improve.
In December last year, South Korean exports rose 33.7 percent from a year earlier
to US$36.2 billion, marking the fastest increase in 17 months, according to
government data.
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