bank of korea said he lowered to the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.50 the decision came amid a brewing trade conflict with japan over its colonial past on the korean peninsula tokyo has put curbs on certain materials that south korean high tech companies need to produce smartphones and t.v. sets. and it's also far from plain sailing in japan figures just out show export struck 6.8 percent in june analyst attribute of the poor figures to disrupt disruption caused by global trade conflicts a slowdown in china's growth and low business confidence the latest sluggish export figures have prompted speculation that the bank of japan could be preparing to introduce new stimulus measures at the end of the month. and it's certainly not just japan and south korea that are dealing with economic turbulence the international monetary fund has just released