First government economic diagnosis after emergency martial law... "concerns of increasing risk of downward"

"Household and business sentiment shrinks...Concerns over increased downside risks"
Prolonged impeachment..."Closing wallets and worries about shrinking investment"
"Cancellation of year-end events and fewer overseas tourists"
"Mild economic recovery" also omitted

[Anchor]
The government diagnosed the current economic situation, saying there is a risk of increasing downside risks, such as growing uncertainties at home and abroad and weak sentiment among households and businesses.

At the same time, he said he would firmly maintain foreign credibility and come up with measures to stabilize people's livelihoods.

Reporter Oh In-seok on the report.

[Reporter]
The government's first economic diagnosis since the emergency martial law came out.

Recently, the Korean economy has continued to stabilize prices, but there is a risk of increasing downside risks, such as increased uncertainties at home and abroad and shrinking economic sentiment for households and businesses.

This is interpreted as a growing concern that households will close their wallets and corporate investment will shrink due to the prolonged impeachment process.

The 'end-of-year special' is missing, with various year-end events canceled and overseas tourists decreasing.

The government's 'mild economic recovery' mentioned a month ago was also excluded from this economic diagnosis.

[Kim Gui-beom / Head of Economic Analysis Division, Ministry of Strategy and Finance: Consumer sentiment has fallen, and corporate sentiment performance and outlook have also fallen. The global economy is showing an overall recovery, but uncertainty is growing, including a possible change in the trade environment, amid lingering geopolitical risks.

Even before the emergency martial law crisis, the economy showed weak recovery in domestic demand, including consumption and investment.

Retail sales fell 0.4% in October, the second straight month of backsliding, while facility investment was at minus 5.8% in the same month.

Earlier this month, the KDI of the Korea Development Institute said in its economic trend report that the Korean economy is constrained by the continued sluggish consumption of goods and construction investment.

The deterioration of the international trade environment following the election of U.S. President Trump is likely to serve as a downside factor for exports.

The government said it will hold a meeting of economy-related ministers as a control tower to firmly maintain external credibility through cooperation with related organizations and to come up with measures to support people's livelihoods along with efforts to strengthen industrial competitiveness.

This is YTN Oh In-seok.



Filmmaker: Jeong Chul-woo
Video editing: Lee Eun-kyung