According to the annual export and import trends announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last year, Korea's trade deficit last year was 47.2 billion dollars, or about 60 trillion won in Korean money, which was the largest ever recorded on an annual basis.
Last year, Korea's total exports increased by 6.1% year-on-year to $683.9 billion, achieving the highest export performance ever, but the increase in imports was much greater.
Suffering from the global energy crisis, imports increased by 18.9% from the previous year to $731.2 billion.
This resulted in a trade deficit of $47.2 billion.
It is the first time in 14 years that the trade balance recorded an annual deficit since 2008, during the financial crisis that originated in the United States.
The amount of deficit reached a record high, more than twice the previous record in 1996, just before the Asian financial crisis.