South Korea’s trade minister forecasted the country’s exports to return to a surplus in the second half of this year starting August and called for changes in the country’s core export items to regain competitiveness in the global market.

“After (Korea’s) outbound shipments declined 8 percent in 2015, deficits grew to 20 percent in January. But in June, losses narrowed to 2.7 percent,” the country’s Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said on Thursday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s annual summer forum held in Jeju, southern Korea. He cited weakening competitiveness of the country’s key export products as the major reason behind the recent fall in the country’s exports, on top of the slow global economy and other structural factors.

“We should make the (recent slowdown in trade) as a chance to fundamentally change the country’s export strategy,” including core export products, target markets, operating entities and supporting system, said Joo, recommending to focus more on other lucrative items such as system memory chips and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, as well as consumer goods and service from the current intermediary and capital goods.

He also proposed to develop consumer goods as the “global brands” by incorporating with the Korean pop culture and technical advancement that have gained popularity in the world. As part of such efforts, the government will seek to nurture cosmetics, preion drugs, agro-fishery products, clothing, and baby supplies sectors as the top five consumer goods categories for exports, said Joo who picked Iran, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cuba as the next strategic markets for exports.

Increasing competition in software-based platform development, enhanced link between the service industry and the whole economy, and China’s dominance in the world’s manufacturing sector are the three main trends of the global economy, Joo said.

Meanwhile, he said there have not been any unusual changes in the trade relationship with China after the state’s announcement to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defend system in Korea. Any unexpected moves in trade, tourism sector, and investment from China have not been observed yet, said Joo.

By Seo Dong-cheol

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