Korea's Top Ten Hits of 2004

18 DECEMBER 2004 VOLUME 8 NO 48

Focus of the Week

KET Issue Report

Economic Indicators

Recent Trends in Capital and Financial Accounts

Koreas Top Ten Hits of 2004

This page intentionally left blank.

CONTENTS

Focus of the Week

Financial Markets

KET Issue Report

Economic Indicators

4

8

101112

13

21

Publisher & CEOKu-Hyun Jung, PhD

Korea Economic Trends

Editor-in-Chief Cholsoo Lho, PhD

Managing Editor Jae-Hoon ShimSenior Editor Oak Jung RheeAssociate Editor Jeong-Ah KimAssociate Editor Stephen KoLayout Editor Mi-Sun Park

Korea Economic Trends is selected by the Scout Report for Business & Economics

Recent Trends in Capital and Financial Accounts

Major Events of the Week

Money & Bond MarketStock MarketForeign Exchange Market


4KOREA ECONOMIC TRENDS

Samsung Economic Research Institute

December 18, 2004

Focus of the Week (Dec 8~14)

Recent Trends in Capital and Financial Ac-counts

1. Capital outflow

Korea marked a capital outflow in 2004. The capital and finan-cial account - the cross-border flow of capital recorded a netoutflow of US$2.5 billion in the first ten months of this year, com-pared to a net inflow in 2002 and 2003.

The reason behind Koreas deficit in capital and financial ac-counts is a surge in outbound investments and a fall in inboundforeign investments. The financial account consists of outbound,inbound and other miscellaneous investments. The capital ac-count consists of capital transfer, and net acquisitions of non-produced, non-financial assets.

In the financial account between January and October this year,Koreas aggregate overseas investments ran to US$21.9 billion,up 69.2% from a year ago. They included portfolio investmentof US$6.6 billion, up 140% over a year ago, and direct invest-ment of US$3.8 billion, up 49.1% from the previous year. Otheroverseas investments - including foreign lending by domestic fi-nancial institutions soared 123% to US$11.4 billion in the sameperiod. By contrast, foreign inbound investment stood at US$20.9 billion in the January-October period, down 6.7% from a yearago.

Meanwhile, the capital account posted an outflow of US$1.4billion, up 21.4% from the same period of the previous year. Thiswas mainly due to aggressive transfer of capital abroad by Ko-rean emigrants, and the rise in immigration costs.

Active investmentshave shifted theflows in the capitaland financialaccounts


SERI

December 18, 2004

Korea's Capital and Financial Account

-30-20-10

0102030405060

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

10/20

04-15-10-5051015202530

Outbound InvestmentInbound InvestmentCapital and Financial Account

(Unit: US$ billion)

Note: 1. The financial account is composed of direct, portfolio (stocks and bonds), and other investments (loans and deposits) 2. Figures for 2004 are from Jan. to Oct.Source: Bank of Korea

2. Reasons

There are several reasons for the continued outflow of capital inrecent months:

The first is the falling interest rates at home and the rising rates inthe US. Koreas interest rates continue to drop mainly due toslow domestic demand, while the US rates have turned upwardsbecause of the economic recovery. Accordingly, the spread be-tween the two rates began narrowing sharply since the firstquarter of 2004, prompting domestic investors to purchase for-eign bonds on a large scale. Foreign bond purchases by Koreaninvestors reached US$4.3 billion in the first ten months of theyear, almost double (192%) the amount of a year ago.

The second reason is the stagnant housing market andstockmarket instability. Koreas housing market has been stag-nating since the governments market stabilization measures an-nounced in October 2003. Housing prices dropped 2.1% acrossthe country on average between October 2003 and October2004, and the number of housing transactions has fallen 30% inthe first nine months of this year (for which the latest figures are

There are a fewfactors drivingcapital flows,including suchthings as interestrate movements andKoreas unstablestock markets



December 18, 2004

available). In a turn for the worse, stockmarkets have mostlylanguished since April this year, taking 4 trillion won out of equityfunds. All this has driven Korean investors to seek more attrac-tive places to invest, making them turn to overseas markets.

The third factor is the global economic recovery that began in2002, which encourages Korean companies to aggressively in-vest overseas. In the first ten months of 2004, such outboundinvestments soared to US$3.9 billion, up 49.1% from a year ago,almost half of this going to China. Also the appreciation of theKorean won since 2002 has boosted direct investment.

The fourth reason is sluggish demand for corporate funds athome, prompting Korean banks to turn to overseas lending.Bank loans to large companies declined 4.3 trillion won in 2003from the preceding year, and dropped 1.4 trillion won in the firstten months of 2004. In 2004, these banks turned even moreconservative in lending to households and smaller companieswith weak credit ratings.

Finally, inbound foreign investment slowed in the face of targetrate hikes in the US, a downturn in the global information tech-nology sector and Koreas own exports. In 2003, US interestrates hovered so low that it brought an ample amount of liquidityinto the global fund markets. A large portion of these fundsflowed into Koreas stockmarkets: foreign stock investment inKorea rose to a record-high of US$14.4 billion in 2003.However, the pace of inflow began to weaken in the beginningof 2004 as US rates started turning upwards. Now, foreign in-vestors are taking their money out of Koreas stockmarkets on alarge scale. In October alone, they pulled out a total of US$1.5billion worth of investment from Koreas bourse.

3. Outlook

Koreas outbound investment is expected to continue in 2005 asInvestment capital


SERI

December 18, 2004

the current economic slowdown leaves little room for interesthikes. Institutional investors look set to diversify their invest-ments overseas seeking higher returns, while individuals will takemore interest in portfolio investment products.

The danger is that additional rate cut at home can quicken capitaloutflow. This is all the more possible because even though theaverage deposit rate of commercial banks currently stands at 3.48%, it actually falls below zero percent when inflation is takeninto account. By comparison, the US has ample room to raise itstarget rate in view of its recent recovery. This suggests thatBank of Korea needs to be extra cautious when tinkering with itsmonetary policy.

To raise profitability, companies must look for promising foreignbusinesses to invest in. As for individual investors, they shouldrefrain from speculative activities, so that they can spread theirassets over different vehicles like stocks, bonds, and propertiesin order to minimize risks.

To prevent a sudden exodus of capital, the government needs torevitalize the capital markets. The domestic capital marketshave so far failed to respond to complaints of the variousinvestors: the bond market trades mostly in short-term bonds; thestockmarkets remain too volatile for long-term investment; andthe derivatives market lacks in the variety of products. Corpora-tions and government must issue longer-term bonds so that in-vestors can pick and choose from a variety or maturities. Bondtransactions too should be conducted by a variety of investorsparticipating in the market.

Last but not least, asset management companies must enhancetheir transparency and otherwise strengthen their capability topromote indirect investments so that it can contribute to develop-ing the equity market.

will continue toflow out of Koreaseeking higherreturns



December 18, 2004

Major Events of the Week (Dec 8~14)

Wednesday, December 8 Foreign direct investment in Korea reached US$10.7 billion during

the first 11 months of 2004, up 65% from US$6.5 billion a yearago, according to Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Itis the first time in three years since 2001 that inbound investmentsurpassed the US$10 billion mark. Investments for merger andacquisitions (M&A) jumped 82.3% to US$5.3 billion, whilegreenfield investments - investment for construction of new fa-cilities - rose 44.5% to US$4.8 billion. M&A investments ac-counted for 49.5% of total inward investments, up 8.4 percentagepoints from the end of 2003 while greenfield investmentsclaimed 44.5%, down 8.4 percentage points from 52.9% in thesame period.

Thursday, December 9 Koreas economic growth will be 4.7% in 2004, and 4.0% in 2005,

according to Bank of Korea forecast. The central bank attributedthe lower-than-expected growth projection to a sharp slowdownin exports and slow investments in facility and construction. Inparticular, export growth will plunge to 7.3% next year from awhopping 31.2% this year, while facility and construction invest-ments will each grow by just 5.3% and 0.5% in 2005. Privateconsumption was estimated to grow 1.8% next year, from an es-timated -0.9% for this year. Inflation was likely to increase 3.0%in 2005. The central bank forecast the current account surpluswill reach US$16.0 billion in 2005, far lower than US$25.7 billionestimated for 2004.

Friday, December 10 In a survey of 1,218 manufacturing companies, Korea Develop-

ment Bank said that the business sentiment index for the firstquarter of 2005 came in at 82, down from 90 in the fourth quarterof 2004 and 104 in the third quarter last year. The drop was attrib-


SERI

December 18, 2004

uted to the worsening corporate profitability stemming from therising prices of raw materials and sluggish domestic demand.Another factor was an anticipated slowdown in exports from thesteep appreciation of the won against the US dollar. An indexbelow 100 indicates more companies are pessimistic than optimis-tic over the business outlook.

Saturday, December 11 Import prices rose 8.2% in November from a year ago, ending six

consecutive months of double-digit increases since May. Theslower growth was attributed to the fall in oil prices, and a 70-wondrop in the won-dollar exchange rate in November. But the cen-tral bank expressed concerns that import prices may jump again inDecember as the oil price increases and wons appreciation slowsdown. Meanwhile, export prices rose 5.1% in November from ayear ago, also ending the third straight month of double-digitgrowth.

Monday, December 13 In a government move designed to dampen speculation in the prop-

erty market, families owning more than two housing units each willbe specially taxed starting from January 2005. Thesehomeowners must pay 60% in capital gains tax when selling theirthird house starting next month. Those selling their third house inthe speculative areas such as the Gangnam district in Seoul will betaxed a maximum 82.5%. The number of households owningmore than two houses each totals 1.179 million nationwide.

Tuesday, December 14 Sales at large discount stores fell 2.9% in November from a year

ago, compared with a 3.2% increase in October, according toMinistry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. It is the first time ineight months that discount store sales contracted. Large depart-ment stores also saw their sales drop by 7.2% in November froma year ago, whereas they posted a 2.1% rise in October. Thenumber of buyers declined 1.1% at discount stores and 5.5% atdepartment stores.

10

KOREA ECONOMIC TRENDS


December 18, 2004

Financial Markets (Dec 8~14)

Money & Bond Market

Interest Rates%

3.0

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.0

11/24 11/28 12/2 12/6 12/10 12/14

3-yr Gov't Bond 3-yr Corp. Bond (AA-)

Interest rates rose with Bank of Koreas decision to freeze itstarget rate, but later fell as investors expected a cut at the begin-ning of next year.

Major factors behind the movement: Bank of Koreas decision to leave the overnight call rate un-

changed at the current level, running counter to investors ex-pectations for a rate cut.

Concerns over economic recovery in the first half of 2005prompting investors to expect a rate cut at the beginning ofnext year.

Interest rates are likely to fluctuate within a band next week.The slow growth of the economy will cause the rates to fall,whereas the anticipated rate hike by the US Federal Reservewill raise the rates.

11


SERI

December 18, 2004

KOSPI & KOSDAQ

Stock Market

800

815

830

845

860

875

890

905

10/29 11/4 11/10 11/16 11/22 11/26 12/2 12/8 12/14310320330340350360370380

KOSPI KOSDAQ

Stockmarkets fell overall during the week due to sales of sharesby foreign investors. The KOSPI fell 1.4% to close at 849.40,while the KOSDAQ retreated 1.1% to 372.74.

Major factors behind the descent: Decision by Bank of Korea to freeze the overnight call rate at

the current 3.25% level. Continued sales of stocks by foreign investors amounting to

1.16 trillion won during the week.

Stockmarkets are expected to rise next week as foreign inves-tors slow their sales of stocks, and ample liquidity is available inthe markets.

12



December 18, 2004

Foreign Exchange Rates

Foreign Exchange Market

1,0301,0401,0501,0601,0701,0801,0901,1001,110

11/16 11/22 11/26 12/2 12/8 12/14

won

100

102

104

106

108

110yen

KRW/USD JPY/USD

The Korean won weakened during the week. The won-dollarexchange rate rose 16.0 won from 1,041.9 won to 1,058.0 wonper US dollar.

Major factors behind the ascent: Sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar

caused by expectations that the US would raise the target rateand that the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japanmay intervene in the currency market.

Sharp increase in net stock sales by foreign investors.

The Korean won is expected to strengthen next week as thesurging US trade deficit pushes down the value of the dollar.

13


SERI

December 18, 2004

KET Issue Report


I. What they choose

Koreas economy was expected to grow by more than 4% in2004, marking marginal progress over the 3.1% of the previousyear. That slow growth kept consumption down, widening thegap between exports and domestic demand. The actual state ofthe economy was bad enough, but when compared to weak eco-nomic indicators, the public perception of the economys perfor-mance was even worse.

To get a better feel for consumer sentiment at a time of eco-nomic slowdown, Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI)conducted a three-day opinion poll from December 8 to 10, ask-ing 10,800 subscribers of www.seri.org to recommend top tenhit products of the year. They were, in order of popularity: 1)Cyworld (an Internet community of web-logs); 2) Multi-functioncellphones; 3) Vita500 health drinks; 4) The popularity ofYonsama and the Korean Wave in Japan; 5) High-capacityMP3 music players; 6) Low-price cosmetics; 7) The Korean TVminiseries Lovers in Paris; 8) The bestseller book: The Magi-cal Way of Learning Chinese Ideographs; 9) Longterm mort-gage loans; and 10) Spicy food.

Overall, Korean consumers showed a great deal of interest ingenerational fads, picking products following their own judgment,according to their own preference, irrespective of socialconventions. The choice of Cyworld, Yonsama and the Ko-rean Wave, and Lovers in Paris indicated their readiness to

Top 10 of 2004

1. Cyworld

2. Multifunctionmobile phones

3. Vita 500 (VitaminC drink)

4. Korean Wave(Spread of KoreanPop Culture)

5. High-capacityMP3 players

6. Low pricecosmetics

7. Lovers in Paris(Korean soap-opera)

8. Magical ChineseCharactereducational booklets

9. Long-termmortgage loans

10. Spicy food

14



December 18, 2004

express themselves unencumbered by social conventions ortraditions. The bestseller book like The Magical Way con-firmed the propensity of Korean students being academicallycompetitive; the popularity of spicy food and health supplementslike Vita500 seem to show that young Korean consumers are askeen as ever to relieve social stress and tension at a time ofbusiness slowdowns.

If the popularity of these products reflected a kind of rationalcalculation on the part of consumers, things like multi-functionmobile phones and high capacity MP3 music players con-firmed this trend. Choice of other things like low-price cosmeticsand long-term mortgage loans, demonstrated how eager con-sumers are to maximize income by going for items with lastingvalue.

II. Why They Choose

The following is a brief review of products consumers chose,and reasons behind their choices:

1. Cyworld

Internet company Cyworld has drawn subscribers in excess of10 million since its opening three years ago, which is close to aquarter of South Koreas entire population. This website allowssubscribers to choose background music, color and avatars todecorate their own web-logs. But these options dont come freeof charge. Sales from decoration items such as color, music andavatars amount to a staggering 150 million won a day. Usershave created new words like Cyzil (to indicate uploading of ar-ticles and pictures on web-logs), Cyholic (referring to addictionto Cyworld activities) and Dotori (to indicate electronic coins);these terms have gained a wide currency as a result of thewebsites popularity.

15


SERI

December 18, 2004

Top 10 of 2002

1.World Cup

2.Color screenmobile phones

3.Made-in-China

4.Mixed-usecomplex

5.Home theatersystems

6.English education

7.Take-out

8.Faux or usedluxury goods

9.Book, book,book, lets readbooks (TVprogram)

10.Oriental orherbal products

Cyworlds explosive popularity indicates consumers over-whelming desire to communicate with each other. On thewebsite, users search other peoples web-logs and form virtualfamilies with close friends. In addition, users can create anddecorate their own web-logs with just a few clicks as thewebsite provides simple and convenient tools. Stung byCyworlds takeoff, rival portal sites have appeared, emulating itsblog service. Daum Communications, Freechal and MSN haveall launched their own blog services named Planet, SUM andHomeP, respectively. Now its becoming a fad for businesscompanies to create their own blog sites on Cyworld to boostcorporate image and promote products.

2. Multifunction mobile phones

The digital camera function has become a must-have item forpractically all cellphone owners, pushing up the sales ofcellphones with built-in cameras. Technological advances havetransformed them into multi-entertainment devices equippedwith information, communications and audiovisual functions.

The weight of camera-phones in the sales of cellphones hassurged from 8% in 2002 to more than 80% in 2004. Alsocellphones with smart functions have been released in series.For example, Wi-Fi phones enable owners to use wirelessInternet and mobile communications at the same time, whileother new models even receive DMB (Digital MultimediaBroadcasting) signals. Some cellphones are equipped with exter-nal flash memory or hard discs to store high-capacity contentssuch as MP3 music, moving images and high-definition digitalpictures.

A Korean mobile phone manufacturer has launched new models,which check blood sugar levels of diabetics. Other products, de-veloped by a different cellphone producer, send signals to pre-

16



December 18, 2004

selected friends or family members when users are in danger.The emergence of new cellphones with smart and convenientfunctions has brought changes to the lifestyles of Koreans.

3. Vita500

In February 2001, Kwang Dong Pharm. Co. LTD., a leading lo-cal pharmaceutical maker, launched a health drink containing vi-tamin C for the first time in Korea. Since then, sales of Vita500have grown more than 100% annually. It has grabbed 70% ofKoreas vitamin beverage market amounting to 130 billion won ayear. The phenomenal growth of Vita500 threatens rivals likeBacchus (a supplement drink) of Dong-A Pharm. Co., Ltd,which has controlled the supplemental drink market for the past40 years.

The vitamin drink has proven popular in a time of economichardship, with people becoming more aware of the importanceof health. And the bottled form of Vita500 is more convenient toconsume than other vitamin C products that come in the form oftablets, pills or granules. Since the drink is marketed as a supple-mental drink, not a medicament, it can be sold through diversedistribution channels. In addition, the commercials featuring Bi,one of Koreas famous singers, have appealed to younger gen-erations in Korea.

4. Yonsama Syndrome and the Korean Wave

Yonsama is the Japanese name of a Korean TV drama actorappearing in a soap-opera series called Winter Sonata thatwas aired in Japan in April 2004. Featuring a syrupy love-affair,the drama series has been so popular in Japan it now brings thou-sands of Japanese fans mostly middle-aged Japanese women to Korea. The phenomenon continues the spread of Koreanpop culture like dramas and songs in much of Asia stretching

Top 10 of 2001

1.Friends (amovie)

2.OK Cashbag(mileage card, SK)

3.Xylitol gum(dental aid, Lotte)

4.Combo (acombined DVDand VCR unit,Samsung

5.TV homeshopping

6.SM 5 (mid-sizecar, Renault-Samsung Motors)

7.Large screen TVs

8.Avatars(personalizedonline characters)

9.Whole lifeinsurance

10.Rice with brandnames

17


SERI

December 18, 2004

from Japan to China, to Taiwan and to Vietnam. Asias attractionto Korean pop culture (dubbed the Korean Wave by the localmedia) actually began in 1997 when Korean soap opera titledWhat Is Love? swept Chinese audiences.

The dramas popularity has brought a large number of Japanesetourists. Thousands of Yonsama fans have flocked to Seouland other cities, filling up hotels and shopping malls. They ea-gerly visit location sites of the TV drama series. In the third quar-ter of 2004, revenue from passenger transportation in the Ko-rean airline industry jumped a good 26.4% from the previousyear.

5. High-capacity MP3 players

High-capacity MP3 players have emerged as hugely popularitems among portable audio devices, pushing their sales to 1.95million units in 2004, up 86% over a year ago. Notably, the massstorage music players come equipped with diverse functions, so-phisticated design and useful contents, growing into mobile con-vergence equipment.

As a result, the portable audio equipment industry and musiccontents industry are undergoing great change. Korean compa-nies spearheaded MP3 technology and its markets. They werequick to adopt new technologies, utilize the broadband network inthe country and release newly developed products. Their quickfootedness has moved them to the top of the worlds portableaudio equipment manufacturing industry. In the music industry,focus has shifted to the online market. The online music market,which ranges from the caller ring tone, handset ring back tone tomusic streaming, have more than quadrupled from 45 billion wonin 2000 to 185 billion won in 2003.

6. Low-price cosmetics

18



December 18, 2004

Missha, a low-price cosmetics company, has seen its sales jumpseven times from the previous year and passed the 100 billionwon mark in 2004. Even though it was told that Expensive cos-metics have stronger appeal to consumers, Missha disprovedthe conventional wisdom. In the wake of the emergence of low-price cosmetics, the market has polarized. Another low-pricecosmetics line was released by The Face Shop. Despite a similarpricing policy, the latter differentiated its products under the slo-gan of high-quality cosmetics at low prices. Sales of The FaceShop, which was founded in December 2003, are expected toreach 100 billion won only after one year following its launch.

Ceaseless innovation of their cost structure has enabled thesecompanies to provide cosmetics at the lowest prices in theindustry, while simultaneously improving quality and corporateimage. The slow economy has, in effect, contributed to the dra-matic growth of low-price cosmetics manufacturers. As dispos-able income steadily dropped, consumers treated cosmetics asnecessity, not luxury goods, preferring low price products overhigh price items.

7. TV drama: Lovers in Paris

Lovers in Paris is a television drama aired on Seoul Broadcast-ing System (SBS) during the last summer season, drawing na-tionwide popularity in Korea, with viewer ratings soaring to 50%.It was the first soap-opera since 2000 to have such high ratings,after only 14 episodes. The drama series generated many fadsand related product sales. The line Lets go, baby, used by theleading male character, became a popular catch-phrase. Thingslike mobile phones, bicycles, clothing and piggy banks featured inthe drama sold immensely, as well as sales of the original soundtrack, avatars, caller ring tone and handset ring back tone.

8. A bestseller: The Magical Way of Learning Chinese Ideographs

19


SERI

December 18, 2004

This book on how better to learn Chinese ideographs or charac-ters became a bestseller, selling more than 1.5 million copiesworth some 10 billion won shortly after it was published in No-vember 2003. The serial book became an instant hit by showingchildren how to learn Chinese characters with the help of rel-evant pictures and cartoons, rather than by rote learning. Figur-ing that cramming the heads of children with multi-stroke char-acters would not get them anywhere, the authors of The Magi-cal Way took a different approach, and created interesting storylines. The market for Chinese character study books and exami-nation fees for Chinese character tests are estimated to bearound 300 billion won and 10 billion won a year, respectively.

9. Long-term mortgage loans

Marketing of long-term mortgage loans, structured by KoreaHousing Finance Corporation (KHFC) in March 2004, has risen,but sales of mortgage loans by commercial banks havedecreased. As KHFCs mortgage loans are on a fixed-ratebasis, borrowers can save money if they arrange the mortgageswhen interest rates are low. The rate fell from 6.7% in March to5.95% in November, so the declining rates are expected to re-lieve the burden of low-income home-buyers. Sales of long-termmortgage loans are estimated to increase as the number of finan-cial institutions that market the loans has grown from nine (sevencommercial banks and two life insurance companies) to 21 (17commercial banks, two life insurance companies and two insur-ance-related companies). More sales of these loans mean morehome-owners.

10. Spicy food

The prolonged economic slump has dealt a serious blow to therestaurant business. However, restaurants specializing in spicyfoods have done quite well. Although bad business has forced

20



December 18, 2004

some 150,000 restaurants to close down temporarily or perma-nently in the first nine months of 2004, 60 new spicy foodfranchisors such as Buldak (spicy roasted chicken) have openedfor business. Other restaurants have also attempted to lure cus-tomers with spicy food on their menus, hoping to compete forcustomers. People gather for spicy food to put their stress andtension behind them. Plenty of eateries offering zesty dishes,have certainly helped keep the young away from headaches likeunemployment.

Written by Lee, [email protected]

Translated by Kim, [email protected]

Macr

oeco

nom

ic In

dica

tors

1999

9.5

0.8

6.3

8.7

1,14

5.4

1,02

8.10

2000

8.5

2.3

4.1

9.4

1,25

2.0

504.

620

013.

84.

13.

87.

11,

313.

569

3.7

2002

7.0

2.7

3.1

6.6

1,18

6.2

627.

620

033.

13.

63.

45.

41,

192.

681

0.7

2003

Ju

l3.

33.

45.

71,

179.

771

3.5

Aug

3.7

3.3

5.9

1,17

8.2

759.

5Se

p2.

43.

33.

25.

21,

150.

169

7.5

Oct

3.7

3.3

5.2

1,18

3.1

782.

4N

ov3.

43.

45.

51,

199.

479

6.2

Dec

3.9

3.4

3.6

5.6

1,19

2.6

810.

720

04

Jan

3.4

3.7

5.7

1,17

3.7

848.

5Fe

b3.

33.

95.

61,

176.

288

3.4

Mar

5.3

3.1

3.8

5.4

1,14

6.6

880.

5

Apr

3.3

3.4

5.1

1,16

7.7

862.

8M

ay3.

33.

35.

11,

165.

780

3.8

Jun

5.5

3.6

3.2

4.9

1,15

2.5

785.

8

Jul

4.4

3.5

4.8

1,16

8.3

735.

3A

ug4.

64.

83.

54.

41,

153.

880

3.6

Sep

3.9

3.2

4.1

1,14

7.9

835.

1

Oct

..3.

83.

34.

01,

126.

083

4.8

AA

-Cor

pora

teB

ond

Yie

ldK

OSP

IW

on/D

olla

rEx

chan

ge R

ate

GD

PG

row

thR

ate

Con

sum

erPr

ice

Cha

nge

Une

mpl

oym

ent

Rat

e

Tota

l Tra

de &

Ext

erna

l Mar

kets

(US$

bill

ion)

Expo

rtIm

port

US

Asi

aC

hina

EU

1999

143.

685

119.

752

29.4

7565

.833

13.6

8520

.241

2000

172.

268

160.

481

37.6

1181

.093

18.4

5523

.424

2001

150.

439

141.

098

31.2

1169

.930

18.1

9019

.627

2002

162.

471

152.

126

32.7

8077

.327

23.7

5421

.694

2003

193.

817

178.

827

34.2

1999

.312

35.1

1024

.887

2003

Jul

15.4

3214

.898

2.49

78.

165

2.96

51.

923

Aug

15.3

7513

.541

2.58

58.

162

3.07

81.

734

Sep

17.0

2114

.531

3.03

58.

664

3.27

42.

206

Oct

18.9

3016

.537

3.42

69.

782

3.54

12.

461

Nov

18.2

4215

.761

3.21

49.

544

3.44

82.

269

Dec

19.7

2917

.624

3.47

310

.587

3.83

02.

412

2004

Jan

18.9

7716

.198

2.64

69.

433

3.32

02.

379

Feb

19.1

2817

.461

3.09

610

.140

3.69

02.

599

Mar

21.1

6819

.116

3.53

811

.292

4.03

72.

725

Apr

21.4

8418

.821

3.54

911

.171

4.09

92.

926

May

20.8

1717

.895

3.57

17.

479

4.29

52.

651

Jun

21.6

1018

.543

4.05

710

.527

4.11

63.

256

Jul

21.0

0718

.383

3.61

910

.942

4.48

93.

080

Aug

19.8

0518

.035

3.47

310

.267

4.10

52.

884

Sep

20.8

8718

.180

3.62

310

.706

4.16

32.

805

Oct

22.7

5620

.353

4.04

111

.433

4.60

23.

380

Expo

rt &

Impo

rtEx

port

Mar

ket

Balan

ce of

Pay

men

ts &

Fore

ign E

xcha

nge

(US$

bill

ion)

Cur

rent

Acc

ount

Goo

dsB

alan

ceSe

rvic

esB

alan

ceIn

com

eB

alan

ceC

apita

lA

ccou

ntD

irect

Inve

stm

ent

Portf

olio

Inve

stm

ent

1999

24.5

2228

.463

-0.6

51-5

.159

2.04

05.

136

8.67

674

.055

2000

12.2

5116

.954

-2.8

48-0

.002

12.1

104.

285

11.9

9896

.198

2001

8.03

313

.488

-3.8

72-1

.198

-3.3

911.

108

6.58

310

2.82

120

025.

394

14.7

77-8

.198

0.43

26.

252

-0.2

240.

709

121.

413

2003

12.3

2122

.161

-7.6

110.

595

13.9

09-0

.207

17.9

5915

5.35

220

03 J

ul0.

346

1.46

2-1

.027

0.16

3-0

.279

-0.2

052.

528

132.

906

Aug

1.30

32.

289

-0.9

770.

267

3.90

80.

151

2.21

513

6.18

9Se

p2.

109

3.06

7-0

.644

0.04

90.

131

-0.3

862.

981

141.

535

Oct

2.43

72.

941

-0.2

61-0

.010

0.53

41.

082

4.12

114

3.32

0N

ov2.

772

2.79

5-0

.302

0.44

64.

384

0.13

42.

819

150.

339

Dec

2.45

22.

609

-0.4

290.

465

1.27

9-0

.152

0.64

715

5.35

220

04 Ja

n2.

344

2.97

6-0

.766

0.35

30.

391

-0.2

554.

129

157.

450

Feb

2.88

83.

000

-0.4

640.

594

2.48

3-0

.303

3.26

916

3.00

7M

ar0.

915

2.63

1-0

.652

-0.7

200.

586

-0.2

823.

343

163.

557

Apr

1.14

23.

320

-0.4

53-1

.445

0.43

40.

085

2.67

716

3.64

0M

ay3.

712

3.75

5-0

.193

0.30

3-1

.591

2.35

9-3

.810

166.

542

Jun

2.18

23.

338

-0.8

59-0

.021

-2.3

300.

087

0.02

816

7.03

0

Jul

3.23

24.

147

-0.7

710.

013

-1.6

82-0

.584

1.61

716

8.00

6A

ug1.

057

1.84

9-1

.090

0.28

80.

811

0.02

50.

430

170.

492

Sep

2.81

03.

693

-0.8

850.

238

-0.9

120.

280

-0.3

8417

4.44

8

Oct

2.49

92.

916

-0.5

390.

155

-0.6

610.

119

-2.4

1517

8.38

8

Cur

rent

Acc

ount

Cap

ital a

nd F

inan

cial

Acc

ount

Fore

ign

Exch

ange

Res

erve

s

Indu

stria

l Act

ivitie

s

Com

posi

te In

dex

ofLe

adin

g In

dica

tors

Ret

ail I

ndex

Dom

estic

Mac

hine

ryO

rder

s Rec

eive

d

Dom

estic

Con

stru

ctio

n O

rder

sR

ecei

ved

Ave

rage

Cap

acity

Util

izat

ion

Rat

e

1999

97.1

10.0

30.9

0.8

76.5

2000

100.

011

.011

.715

.178

.620

0198

.67.

0-1

.022

.175

.320

0210

7.7

8.2

21.0

33.0

78.4

2003

108.

5-2

.3-8

.522

.578

.320

03

Jul

108.

0-4

.5-1

2.4

68.2

74.7

Aug

109.

0-1

.3-2

3.3

38.6

77.2

Sep

109.

0-1

.518

.539

.578

.9

Oct

110.

0-3

.34.

716

.781

.1N

ov11

0.5

-2.9

-10.

8-1

4.8

79.6

Dec

111.

30.

2-9

.16.

780

.420

04 J

an11

1.4

-2.9

12.9

-14.

680

.4Fe

b11

2.0

1.5

12.7

-23.

983

.4M

ar11

2.0

-3.6

30.8

-3.2

80.6

Apr

112.

1-0

.918

.6-1

4.6

80.5

May

111.

9-1

.519

.0-2

4.0

81.3

Jun

111.

70.

318

.1-3

6.9

79.8

Jul

111.

50.

4-6

.4-3

.379

.4A

ug11

1.7

-4.3

-6.2

-39.

278

.7Se

p11

1.9

-1.9

-8.9

-29.

279

.6

Oct

112.

4-1

.4-8

.132

.180

.0

Korea's Top Ten Hits of 2004

Documents

Transcript of Korea's Top Ten Hits of 2004