SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's economy grew 0.8 per cent in the second quarter boosted by gains in exports and manufacturing, the Bank of Korea said Friday.
Gross domestic product growth during the three months through June matched that posted in the previous quarter, the central bank said in a statement on its website.
Growth was suppressed by a 2.4 per cent contraction in the construction sector, the bank said. Private consumption, which is mostly consumer spending, also weighed on the economy, contracting by 0.1 per cent.
South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth-largest, grew five per cent in 2007, though concerns have increased that a global economic slowdown make it unlikely such a figure can be reached this year.
President Lee Myung-bak, a former construction company chief executive, took office in February with a pledge to boost annual growth through deregulation and more foreign investment.
His tenure so far has been dogged by large street protests amid broad dissatisfaction with his policies and style of governance, which has been criticized as arrogant.
On the positive side, manufacturing grew 2.2 per cent, led by what the central bank called a "continuous increase in IT manufacturing such as semiconductors, video, audio and communication equipment and machinery."
South Korea is led by major high-tech manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
The economy grew 4.8 per cent during the second quarter compared with the same period last year, the bank said, decelerating from the 5.8 per cent growth registered in the first quarter.
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