Car Industry Fares Worst Among South Korea's Exporters

South Korea's vehicle industry was the worst hit in exportations, plummeting 80.4 percent on May 1 to 10 from the same period last year, due to the global impact of COVID-19.

Petroleum products ensued, plunging 75.6 percent, followed by wireless telecommunication devices, down by 35.9 percent.

Semiconductor exports weren't spared, which dropped 17.8 percent.

Shipbuilding was the only industry whose exports rose during the period, mainly because of orders for large cargo ships.

The country's total export, which came in at $6.9 billion, dropped by 46.3 percent from the same period last year.

The pandemic has been clamping hard on South Korea's exports, which plunged 24.3 percent from the previous year.

By regions, exports to the U.S. were the worst hit, declining 54.8 percent for the first 10 days in May, while those to Vietnam reported a plunge of 52.2 percent.

Exports to the European Union also exhibited a significant drop of 50.6 percent, and those to China, the country's biggest export partner, decreased by 29.4 percent.

Yonsei University economist Sung Tae-yoon gave a dim outlook about revitalizing South Korea's exports soon. He pointed out that the government cannot do anything when most countries importing Korean products are reeling from the effecst of the pandemic.

He added the best thing the South Korean government could do as of now is to provide financial support and tax benefits to local companies."