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[1/2] The logo of the Bank of Korea is seen in Seoul, South Korea, November 30, 2017. The Bank of Korea said its seven-member monetary policy board voted to keep the base rate (KROCRT=ECI) unchanged at 3.50%, as it did on Feb. 23. Local markets showed a muted reaction as investors waited Governor Rhee Chang-yong's news conference from 0210 GMT. It is the first time the Bank of Korea has kept the policy rate steady at successive meetings since it embarked on a tightening campaign in August 2021. Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Chinese tourists stand next to street vendors at Myeongdong shopping district in Seoul, South Korea, January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSEOUL, March 2 (Reuters) - South Korea's government on Thursday promised to boost exports and attract tourists as the country's statistics agency released January data that showed gloomy prospects for the economy. Reflecting the sense of urgency within the government, South Korea's trade minister convened a separate emergency meeting of officials from almost all ministries to press for more exports. South Korea's official forecast is for exports to drop 4.5% in 2023 compared with last year. South Korea's trade-reliant economy contracted by an estimated 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the previous quarter as exports collapsed.

Exports fell 16.6% in January from a year earlier, trade ministry data showed, worse than an 11.3% decline predicted in a Reuters survey and the fastest drop in exports since May 2020. Imports fell 2.6% compared with a year earlier, less than a 3.6% drop predicted in the survey. As a result, the country posted a monthly trade deficit of $12.69 billion, setting a record amount for any month. Leading the sluggish trade performance in January were a 44.5% dive in semiconductor exports and a whopping 31.4% plunge in sales to China, the trade ministry data showed. The government has forecast this year's exports would fall 4.5% after posting a 6.1% gain in 2022, and the trade ministry has said it would do what it can to avert a decline.

Playing down the economic slowdown as part of a global trend, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho pledged prompt support measures for exporters, such as tax breaks and administrative help. Central bank estimates showed gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.4% in the October-December period from the previous quarter. Markets showed a muted reaction to the data, which was largely in line with repeated warnings in recent weeks by the government and central bank. The central bank estimated that in 2022 the full-year value of the economy, Asia's fourth-largest, had been 2.6% larger than in 2021, when it showed growth of 4.1%. Reporting by Jihoon Lee and Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Economists have pointed to growing challenges for Korea's economy as sustained high inflation, rapidly rising interest rates worldwide and continuing global supply-chain disruptions sap demand both at home and abroad. "Today's figure, although appearing okay, is already about the past while the future is getting more difficult both in terms of domestic and global demand," said Park Sang-hyun, chief economist at HI Investment & Securities. Despite managing positive growth, a breakdown of the figures showed Asia's fourth-largest economy was losing momentum quickly in the face of cooling global demand, a wave of policy tightening and high inflation. On an annual basis, the economy expanded by 3.1% in the third quarter after a 2.9% gain in the second quarter. Reporting by Jihoon Lee and Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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