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Last year, Korea's trade deficit reached a record high of 60 trillion won.
It is the first time since the 2008 financial crisis that the trade deficit has turned negative.
Reporter Jeong Gu-hee reports.
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Last year's exports reached 683.9 billion dollars, up 6.1% from the previous year, and about 860 trillion won in Korean money, the highest ever.
It is a step up from 7th in 2021 to 6th in the world.
However, imports have increased significantly.
Last year, the amount of imports jumped 18.9% from the previous year to 731.2 billion dollars, or about 920 trillion won in our money.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Industry announced last year that Korea's trade balance recorded a 'deficit' of 47.2 billion dollars, which is about 60 trillion won in our money.
It is the first time in 14 years that the trade balance recorded a deficit since 2008, when the global financial crisis started in the US.
The amount of deficit also reached an all-time high, more than double the $20.6 billion recorded in 1996, which was the worst ever.
The trade deficit despite record-high exports is related to rising energy prices.
Last year, the price of energy rose due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, and transportation costs increased along with logistics disruptions, leading to a sharp increase in raw material prices and inflation.
Imports from the three major energy sources, including crude oil, gas and coal, were $190.8 billion, up $78.4 billion from the previous year.