Global war epidemic: the epidemic hits South Korea's economic government to "self-help" by extraordinary means

(Fighting new crown pneumonia) Global war epidemic: the epidemic hits South Korea's economic government to "self-help" by extraordinary means

China News Agency, Seoul, March 16 (Reporter Zeng Jun) The epidemic of new crown pneumonia has severely affected the Korean economy. The South Korean government says it will support economic development by unconventional means.

Since last year, South Korea's economy has continued to slump, and the epidemic has worsened development in various fields. The capital market is "overwhelming."

On the last trading day of last week, the South Korean stock market plummeted in just a few minutes after the opening. The comprehensive stock price index KOSPI and the GEM index KOSDAQ both fell more than 8%, triggering a level of "fuse", which caused trading to be suspended for 20 minutes. In the last two trading days of last week, the futures market was "temporarily suspended" twice. This is the first time that the futures market has suspended trading after an interval of more than 8 years.

The Korea Financial Supervisory Authority released data on the 16th that overseas investors sold more than 3.22 trillion won of South Korean stocks in February, the highest value since October 2018. Semiconductor stocks were sold in large quantities, causing the market value of "giant" companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to shrink severely.

Since the 16th, South Korea has banned short selling of listed stocks for six months. However, the market generally analyzes that KOSPI has fallen below the 1900 psychological support line, and panic will spread.

The real economy is also "singing on all sides", and the aviation industry bears the brunt.

New crown pneumonia outbreak, the number of tourists entering Korea has plummeted. According to data released recently by the South Korean Ministry of Justice, foreigners arriving in Korea in January fell 11.5% year-on-year. The Ministry of Justice predicts that many countries will impose immigration controls on South Korea, with fewer arrivals in February and March.

On March 12, South Korea ’s Gimpo Airport had no international flights for the first time in 17 years. Two days later, Jeju International Airport ’s international flights also had “zero takeoffs and landings”. This was the first time that the airport ’s operation had occurred in 51 years.

South Korea ’s largest airline, Korean Air, said on the 16th that it plans to use passenger aircraft as cargo aircraft to “reduce downtime”. Korean Air has discontinued nearly 90 routes and international capacity has dropped by about 80%. South Korean budget carriers Jeju Air and Seoul Airlines have also cut executive or employee salaries. According to Korean media reports, several airline companies have issued internal letters stating that they are facing a crisis of survival and encourage employees to take voluntary leave.

The epidemic situation even caused exports to "cold current".

South Korea is an export-oriented economy and is highly dependent on international markets. Last year, South Korea's exports fell by 10.3% year-on-year. Officials predict that exports will increase in the first quarter of this year, but the epidemic has once again worsened the export environment.

In February, the average daily export value of South Korea decreased by 11.7% year-on-year; in the first 10 days of March, the average daily export value decreased by 2.5% year-on-year. Due to the tight global supply chain, many large auto companies such as Hyundai Motor are short of parts, and production lines are closed.

The Korea Development Research Institute (KDI) released a report in March that South Korea ’s export market was sluggish in February, mainly due to the sharp decline in exports to China and other places, and the company ’s production was blocked. surroundings.

Jin Chengtai, head of the economic research office of the Development Research Institute, predicts that if the epidemic lasts for more than three months, it will have a major impact on manufacturing production.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the epidemic has greatly increased market uncertainty, which has led to difficulties for South Korean corporate loans to raise funds. Shin Kwanho, an economics professor at Korea University, bluntly stated that the continued outbreak will increase the risk of corporate bankruptcy.

In response to the current economic situation, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called it "extremely grim." On the 16th, South Korea ’s presidential palace, Blue House, said that Jae-in Moon proposed a video conference of the G20 to carry out international cooperation to restore the economy.

South Korean Prime Minister Ding Shijun has stated that he will support the economy by unconventional means, stabilize people's livelihood, and alleviate the difficulties of low-income groups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

On the 16th, Kim Rong-Fan, the first official of the Ministry of Planning and Finance of the Republic of Korea, said that the epidemic situation would have an impact on the financial sector and the real economy at the same time, and would take additional measures when necessary, such as providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market. (Finish)