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As we trade with many countries around the world, which country has the largest surplus?

Last year, 'Vietnam', not the United States, China or Japan, was recorded as the number one country in Korea's trade surplus for the first time.



Reporter Jung Joon-ho covered the background of Vietnam's rapid rise as a close economic partner to Korea.



<Reporter> This



is the Hallyu Expo held in Vietnam last October.



136 Korean companies participated, and an export contract worth 22 billion won was signed in two days.



[Ha Quang Dao/Vietnamese entrepreneur: I'm looking for a Korean export partner.

If we find a suitable product, we will import it and sell it in the Vietnamese market.]



Last year, a cosmetics company that entered Vietnam for the first time won an export contract worth 19 billion Korean won at once.



[Kim Gwang-kyu/Cosmetics Manufacturer Representative: The quality is comparable to that of European products, but I think the price matches the demand of Vietnamese people who have access.]



As trade in high-tech industries increased, Vietnam became Korea's largest trade surplus last year.



The surplus amounted to 34.2 billion dollars, and our money was about 43 trillion won, surpassing the 2nd place United States and 3rd place Hong Kong.



There are about 5,500 Korean companies that have entered Vietnam, and in the case of Samsung Electronics, more than half of their smartphones are produced in Vietnam.



[Jeong In-gyo/Professor of International Trade, Inha University: We took the lead when other countries weren't looking.

As Korean companies play a significant role in the (Vietnam) manufacturing industry ecosystem, I believe this trend will continue for the time being



.



China, which ranked first in the surplus in 2018, fell to 22nd, as economic growth slowed due to the zero corona policy and the price of imported raw materials soared.



(Video editing: Hwang Ji-young)