South Korea s GDP shrank by 1% in 2020 on fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of Korea announced on Tuesday, marking the worst growth in more than two decades but pointing toward a rebound in 2021.
Photo : YONHAP News Anchor: South Korea’s economy shrank by one percent last year, logging the first contraction since 1998 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The figure is still higher than the Bank of Korea s initial forecast with the South Korean government assessing it fared relatively well among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD).
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
Report: The Bank of Korea(BOK) said Tuesday that the country s gross domestic product(GDP) shrank one percent in 2020 from a year earlier.
It marks the first on-year contraction and the worst growth since 1998 when the GDP shrank five-point-one percent amid the Asian financial crisis.
Moon to carry out partial Cabinet reshuffle as early as Wednesday
Jan 20, 2021, 08:38 am
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AsiaToday reporter Lee Jang-won
President Moon Jae-in is expected to carry out a partial Cabinet reshuffle as early as Wednesday. Observers say that the president is expected to replace Park Young-sun, minister of SMEs and Startups, and other economy-related ministers. Park is reportedly preparing to resign to announce her bid in the Seoul mayoral by-election in April, regardless of whether or not the president nominates her successor.
“Minister Park plans to quit the job Wednesday in consideration of the schedule for the ruling Democratic Party’s (DP) race to pick its candidate for the election,” an official from the ruling party said on Tuesday. Therefore, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae is likely to announce its reshuffle of up to five ministers when Park announces her bid on Wednesday.
With Seollal coming up in about three weeks, the government has announced measures to support regional economies and people s livelihoods.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that to minimize the spread of the virus during the holiday, there ll be COVID-19 screening stations set up across the country. Some of the screening stations will be run by the government and others by private medical institutions for a total of 620 of them.
The private institutes that choose to take part will get around 23 million U.S. dollars in total.
There will also be 74 hospitals in operation that specialize in infectious diseases.
Also, the ministry will run a campaign encouraging people to find non-contact ways to spend time together, like sending presents by smartphone or mail and meeting on video calls rather than in person.