South Korea grapples with fiscal deficit

SEOUL: South Korea says it faces a 2013 revenue shortfall of up to 8 trillion won (US$7.37bil), a challenge for President Park Geun-hye's administration as it prepares to submit its first full-year budget to parliament next month.

The previous South Korean government was unable to have a balanced budget in its last years, and a wider-than-expected deficit this year may signal that Park, who became president early this year, could struggle to achieve a goal of balancing the budget by the end of her five-year term.