Indepth: Korean economy grows at slowest pace in over 2 years in Q4 인뎁스: 작년 4분

The Korean economy grew at its slowest pace in more than two years... in the fourth quarter of last year, setting off alarm bells among economic policymakers here in Korea... who have given priority to boosting growth. To tell us what′s behind the slowdown... and what we can expect going forward... our Hwang Ji-hye joins us in the studio. Thanks for coming in. So, Ji-hye, could you first break down the figures for us? Sure. The Bank of Korea says... the economy grew zero-point-4 percent in the fourth quarter from a quarter earlier. That,... as you said,... marks the slowest pace of growth since the July to September period of 2012... and five straight quarters of growth below one percent. The central bank attributes the slowdown... partly to a drop in exports,... caused by the slowing Chinese economy. Exports to China is vital as it makes up 26 percent of all of Korean exports. "Due to sluggish exports, output in the manufacturing sector also contracted for two straight quarters in the October to December period last year. This is what we will keep an eye on." And... there′s no good news on the domestic front either. Domestic consumption in 2014... grew 1-point-7 percent,... the slowest pace since 2009, when Korea was hit by the global financial crisis. Economic growth for all of last year was 3-point-3 percent an uptick from the 3 percent growth posted in 2013,... but far below the 4 percent-range the central bank forecast a year ago. But the central bank, although it cut the 2015 growth forecast last week,... says it′s not pessimistic about the economy, adding it is on a recovery track. Why′s that? The BOK is pointing to some factors that applied only for the fourth quarter and won′t be repeated this year. They include a fall in government spending,... that dragged down construction investments by more than 9 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous one. It also cited a new regulation on mobile-phone subsidies that cut... sales of handsets. Some experts also add on to the optimism, saying that the economic conditions abroad are likely to improve in the coming months,... giving a boost to Korea′s traditional growth engine. "Also, low oil prices will help to boost the economy. Our trading partners such as China, EU will benefit through the oil prices, and also EU will grow with more monetary expansion, which is done today. Overall, our economy will improve in first half of 2015." A high-level official at the finance ministry also says... that Europe′s latest stimulus program will benefit Korea,... while the central bank governor says... monetary easing has a limited impact on the domestic financial market... as the move was widely expected. So, does that mean a rate cut to further boost the economy is unlikely early this year? Well, market expectations are still mounting over another cut... with the belief that the central bank and the government will work together to further spur